


Missions Merged

by Hermioneshandbag (Obscurilicious)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 14:20:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obscurilicious/pseuds/Hermioneshandbag
Summary: A witch educated at a different school of wizardry returns to her family home in London when her cousin disappears. The Ministry of Magic has not been helpful, so she takes matters into her own hands and meets a dashing but mysterious man along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

_What in Merlin’s saggy drawers am I doing here?_ you thought to yourself.

Of course, what you were doing here was the Ministry’s job. Your cousin had gone missing and no one at the Ministry seemed to care. Your auntie had been there several times and the Ministry officials all treated her like a hysterical old woman.

You had come at once, though at once wasn’t particularly brisk when you were located in the interior of the African continent.

You, too, had gotten the run-around at the Ministry when you had arrived in London, so you decided to take matters into your own hands.

You had been going to Muggle pubs and blending into the background as much as possible. Your cousin had been last seen at a particularly seedy public house in a Muggle district, but there his trail went cold, at least as far as the Ministry were concerned.

You knew your cousin. You had spent a great deal of time together growing up, traveling the world with your hippie parents or learning to be a proper, polite young witch in England with his family during the summers. Roland Clevenger simply wouldn’t take off without word for his mother, especially since his father had passed the year before and he was an only child.

Since the Ministry had written him off as a ne’er do well, you decided to do a little digging on your own.

So you went to the pubs he had been frequenting and tried to blend in with the background. Unfortunately, you stuck out like a sore thumb and no one would speak to you. Once it became apparent that no one would open up to an outsider, you went to a few thrift stores and bought some shorter skirts, lower tops and higher heels and then teased your hair and applied make-up with a heavy hand to try to fit in better with the working class clientele or the pubs.

You went and nursed beers and pretended to be drunk and harmless, kept your ear to the ground and asked if anyone had seen this bloke who owed you twenty quid. The combination seemed to make you less suspicious even if not welcome.

You were at a different pub and you had heard some hushed voices and shady looking blokes a couple stools down the bar that you hadn’t seen about in the weeks you had been snooping. You decided to go to the ladies and stagger close to them for a bit of a listen.

“… it’s him, I’m tellin’ you!”

“Why would Black be out by himself like that?”

“Dunno, why was that other bloke out by himself? They don’t have our numbers to run with partners, now do they? Maybe we should ask him when he leaves?”

“Couple  _Crucies_  and he’ll be begging to come into the fold like the rest of his kin.”

You stumbled on to the toilet, stopping to stare into the mirror in fear.  _Crucies?_  Did they mean  _Cruciatus_  curses? And they were blithely throwing the idea around like it was a common as a game of Exploding Snap.

You needed to warn the fellow they were plotting against.

* * *

Sirius Black was in trouble.

He had gotten word that one of Voldemort’s lackies had been drinking here of late and that a few Muggles had gone missing in the vicinity as well. Most concerning was a mate of his from the Order had also gone missing from this neighborhood. Rollie was as careful as they came and reliable. Sirius was afraid that he had come to a bad end.

It had happened to so many of his friends, yet he never got to the point where it didn’t both gut and infuriate him. Roland would have checked back in by now, it had been months. Sirius knew that he was most likely dead, yet he wanted answers and maybe a body to return to Roland’s mum. He had hoped to get both from the Death Eater that was frequenting the pubs in this area.

He was in trouble because he hadn’t expected him to have two friends.

And it wasn’t helping that there was an absolutely breathtaking bird stumbling about looking positively edible in a short skirt that showed off long, gorgeous legs. The barely there top left his mouth watering as well. Bloody hell, Lily was right: his dick was going to get him killed one of these days.

That did not stop Sirius’ eyes from wandering back to Stumbelina as you returned from the loo. There was something about you that seemed – wrong? Off? Something beside your beauty that caught and held Sirius’ attention.

He watched you as you walked back into the barroom, scanning the faces as if looking for someone you knew. As your eyes stopped on him, you got a very wicked gleam in your eye and sauntered toward him, hips swaying in your high heels.

Sirius’ eyes went wide as yours made and held contact, and he gulped when you licked your lips. Your path seemed to be leading you directly to him, and Sirius was worried about his attention being diverted and frustrated that there was a gorgeous woman coming his way and he would have to rebuff you for your own safety.

* * *

You hated this plan. It was the only one you could come up with, but you really hated it. There was nothing else for it, though.

You put as much hip in your walk as you could while remaining on your feet, strolled over to Black’s table and dropped into his lap, straddling him as if to perform a lap dance. “Is this seat taken?” you asked as you wrapped your arms around his neck and made yourself comfortable.

“Merlin’s bollocks,” he groaned as you began to kiss his neck, “how drunk are you, love?”

“Your name Black?” you whispered into his ear in the guise of kissing his neck.

He stiffened for the briefest moment before sliding his hands up your legs to the edge of your skirt. “How did you know that?” he growled quietly before biting your neck.

“Blokes at the bar are talking about you. Know what a  _Crucie_  is?” you whispered as you tipped your head sideways.

“Yeah,” he hissed, kissing down your throat to your collarbone. “Do you?”

“Yes,” you answered, wiggling on his lap and running your hands through his hair. “They’re you-know-who’s followers, aren’t they?”

Sirius noticed the Death Eaters watching the two of you and he pulled you into a kiss to keep you from asking any more questions. You returned it rather enthusiastically and Sirius actually got lost in it for a moment.

When you came up for air, you were looking at Black with a dazed expression and had his hands under your skirt, cupping and squeezing your bum.

You leaned forward and whispered, “Please get your hands off my arse.”

Sirius smiled, an utterly charming, shit-eating grin. “Y’didn’t mind a minute ago, love.”

“The ladies is a one seater. Let’s go, handsome,” you moaned loudly as you rolled your groin against his.

That wiped the smile off Sirius’ face. “After you, darling.”

You got to your feet a bit clumsily and took his hand pulling him along behind you. Sirius stopped to kiss you near the Death Eaters and heard one say, “Eh, let’s let him get his end in. We’ll get him after he shags the slag. Let the blood traitor have a piece before we send him off.”

You pulled him along, whining, “Come on, baby, I can’t wait for you.”

“Right behind you, love,” Sirius said, slapping your ass.

You giggled loudly as you pulled him towards the loo, saying, “Mmm yeah, I’ve been naughty!”

As you giggled and kissed your way down the corridor to the loo, you tried the door and were relieved to find it unoccupied. You pulled him inside, kissing him again as you caught sight of his pursuers looking down the hall after you.

You locked the door and leaned against it, shaking in fear now that the danger had passed. Sirius pounded the door a few times and yelled unintelligibly before he whispered, “Why did you help me?”

“Yes, there!” you howled, then gave him a look that clearly questioned his intelligence and whispered back, “Because they talked about using Unforgivables on you and I thought that seemed bad.”

“Oh, baby, you feel so good, yes!” he screamed, then said, “Do you have any idea what you’re getting mixed up in?”

“Ohhhhh I’ve never seen such a big dick!” you cried while pointing at Sirius.

Sirius started laughing at that. “It’s all for you baby,” he grunted, then asked mischievously, “Your place or mine?”

You rolled your eyes, grabbed his arm and yelled, “Yes, harder,” and then cast the spell to disapparate, reappearing with Sirius in the lounge of your family townhouse.

He stumbled and you caught his arm to steady him. “Bloody hell, y’don’t just kidnap a man!” he complained.

“Kidnap, my arse. I rescued you!” you snapped back as you kicked off your uncomfortable shoes. “And there’s the door, you ungrateful little shite.” With that you spun on your heel and headed to the kitchen to make some tea.

Sirius looked at the front door you had indicated and then looked at your retreating form. No, he could not possibly ignore his curiosity. He followed you down the hallway and emerged into a well-appointed kitchen.

You raised an eyebrow and waved your hand at a cabinet. The door opened and another cup joined yours on the counter. Sirius looked in both of your hands and there was not a wand in sight.

“Nice wandless casting,” Sirius said.

“Thanks,” you said.

“Wait – did you – did you apparate us without a wand?” he asked incredulously.

“Well it was a bit of an emergency, wouldn’t you say?” you asked bluntly.

“That’s hardly the point! How could you…how did you…wand!” Sirius sputtered.

You pointed at the pot to pour and asked him how he took his tea, thinking that asking an Englishman about the beverage would nudge him back to reality.

It didn’t work.

You huffed and picked up your cup and sipped. “I didn’t go to Hogwarts, I went to Uagadou.”

“Merlin,” he breathed.

“Indeed.”

Sirius stared at you a while longer, so you decided to move things along. “Well it was – interesting – to meet you, Mr. Black, but I simply must wash the pub smell out of my hair now. Best of luck capturing your Death Eaters.”

The words ‘Death Eaters’ finally shook Sirius out of his daze. “What were you doing there?”

You considered him for a moment and decided to tell him; you weren’t getting anywhere on your own, after all. “My cousin went missing a few months back. He was last seen in a pub in that neighborhood. The Ministry says he’s just pissed off, but he wouldn’t do that to my auntie. He just wouldn’t,” you ended on a whisper.

Sirius came over to you and took your hand. “What’s your cousin’s name?” he asked gently.

“Roland. Roland Clevenger.”

Sirius sighed. “Rollie and I are mates. We need to talk, love.”

* * *

You and Sirius went to the lounge with your tea and told each other everything you knew, including all that you had overheard from the Death Eaters at the pub. You wound up crying all over him when he didn’t sugar-coat his fear that Rollie might be dead.

Sirius was rubbing your back and whispering soothing words to you. Time was he would be utter pants at soothing a crying female, but war brought him all sorts of unwanted new skills. In this case, however, he was happy that he could help you.

When you calmed down, you leaned back to thank him and saw the mess your tears and make-up had made on his shirt. “Bugger, I’ve ruined your shirt with all this crap make-up. I must look a mess, as well. Take that shirt off and I’ll fetch one of my dad’s for you and get those stains out and return it.”

“Look at you trying to get me out of my clothes. Just have to ask, love,” he said with a wink, trying to get you to smile.

You laughed outright. “In this case, I’ve made a bit of a misleading first impression.”

Sirius tsked and said, “That’s a shame, because it was bloody wonderful.”

You smiled. “You’re very kind, Black.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Why d’you keep calling me that?”

You laughed and said, “I don’t know your first name.”

Sirius flushed, realizing he didn’t know your name, either. “It’s Sirius. And you are?”

“Y/N Y/L/N. Pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances,” you said, extending your hand. 

Sirius bent his head to kiss the back of your hand. “The pleasure is mine, Y/N.”

“Very suave,” you said with a smile.

“I try.”

“I usually try to wait to cry on a gentleman until I’ve been introduced, sorry,” you said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Lucky thing I’m no gentleman,” he replied with a wink.

“Never say so! Only a gentleman would remove his hands from under a complete stranger’s skirt so quickly!” you joked with a wink of your own. “Let me go get that shirt for you.”

“I’m starving, fancy some takeaway?” he asked, keen to spend more time with you.

“Yeah, actually, that sounds good. Mind running out while I have a shower?”

“Not at all,” he answered eagerly. “What sounds good?”

“Anything. Just knackered and peckish. Pizza? There’s a good place a couple blocks over by the tube station.”

“Perfect,” he said.

“Be right back with the shirt,” you said.

Sirius looked around your home as he listened to you thump around upstairs. The floorplan was similar to the one he had grown up in but that was where the similarity ended. This was a warm home, filled with photos and heirlooms. Sirius went to the mantle and saw a younger you with Rollie. He had been a year behind Sirius at Hogwarts and you looked to be about the same age as him in the photo of you splashing each other in a lake and laughing.

Sirius had heard you coming down the stairs and replaced the photo on the mantel.

“We’re three months apart. My mum had only just figured out she was pregnant when my auntie told her she was expecting.” You handed him a soft, old concert T-shirt of your Dad’s.

“Why didn’t you go to Hogwarts?” he asked, then thanked you for the shirt, then looked surprised as he unfolded it. “Jimi Hendrix?”

“My Dad…my parents are unique.”

“I look forward to meeting them,” he said as he looked you in the eye.

“Well they are in Uganda at present, so you do not need to worry about that right away. They’ll be here in a fortnight or so.”

“Hopefully we’ll know something more about Rollie by then,” he said softly.

You smiled sadly. “Yes, hopefully.”

“Should I go ahead…” Sirius began, indicating the shirt.

“Oh, no, not looking for a peep show. I’ll just head up to the loo for a shower. Let yourself in when you get back,” you said over your shoulder as you headed to the stairs.

Sirius watched you go and then changed shirts, leaving his on the sofa, pleased to have a built-in excuse to see you again, then headed out to get pizza.


	2. Chapter 2

You thought about your extraordinary evening while you took off your caked-on makeup and then got in the shower and washed the hairspray and smoke out of your hair. You gratefully felt your own skin and hair when you got out and dried off. You weren’t one for complicated beauty regimens on a daily basis. Merlin, you didn’t even get that complicated when you got dressed up.

You put on a t-shirt and jeans, comfortable and broken in. The knees of your jeans were actually worn through and your mother had threatened to put them in the rag bag every time she saw you wear them.

You dried your hair and yes, perhaps you did take the slightest care with your appearance. Your meeting had been extremely unorthodox and you hadn’t given it much thought into the moment, but Sirius Black was a gorgeous man. You had felt more than a spark when you kissed him and more than his zipper when you had straddled his lap. He appeared to have been gifted in more than just his looks.

You shook yourself when heard the front door slam and your stomach growled at the promise of pizza. He was Rollie’s friend and he wanted the same thing you did. And he was bringing pizza. You scampered down the stairs barefoot, following the heavenly smell.

“Mmmmm gimme,” you said unceremoniously as you entered the kitchen.

“I like a girl who knows what she wants,” he joked, pulling you into his arms.

You flicked his nose and said, “Yes, I know what I want and it better have extra cheese.”

Sirius laughed and let you go. You gestured and a cabinet opened and plates appeared, then another flick and silverware and napkins joined.

“I grabbed beer and soda, didn’t know which you would prefer or if you had any,” he offered, half turned on from watching your magic again.

“Mmmmm what’s pizza without a beer?”

“Girl after my own heart,” he agreed. “Did I see a telly in the front room?”

“Yeah, m'Dad loves the thing,” you said. “I, of course, find it much more edifying to read a good book.”

“Oh, yeah, me too,” Sirius agreed half-heartedly.

“Wanna go see if Doctor Who repeats are on somewhere?” you asked with a grin.

“Merlin, I was afraid I was gonna have to pretend to be a grown-up,” Sirius said in relief.

You laughed and said, “Grab the beer, I got the pizza.”

* * *

You sat next to each other and ate pizza while you watched an old episode of Doctor Who, followed by some Monty Python’s Flying Circus. You laughed together at the Python antics and drank beer, not really thinking about what brought you together for a while.

But the pizza ran out, as all good pizzas do. You went and turned off the telly and then sat facing Sirius.

He turned to face you and said, “Good pizza, that.”

“Yeah, been going there for years. Oh, can I pay you for…?”

“Nah, I generally pay for dinner when I go on dates,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“Some date!” you said with a laugh.

“Well, sorry about the why, but not about the who.”

“Yeah,” you agreed softly. “But…”

“But,” he agreed. “I need to talk to some people before I can tell you more. They will most likely want to meet you and probably question you. If Moody’s there, probably with Veritaserum.”

“Merlin. Paranoid sort?”

Sirius shrugged. “Is it really paranoia if people are out to get us?”

You exhaled loudly. “Fair enough.”

“I should go. I can stop by tomorrow afternoon and let you know if I can talk to anyone? Maybe we could get dinner?” Sirius asked casually.

“Well, that depends on if it’s dinner or dinner? Because going round the chip shop is one thing, putting on a skirt and make-up… that’s something else entirely.”

Sirius smiled in understanding. “Maybe we start with the chip shop and move up to dinner a bit later, yeah?”

“Thanks, Sirius. For understanding,” you said softly.

“He means a lot to me, too. I reckon we should focus on the job at hand before we move on to falling madly in love,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh, Merlin, you do think highly of yourself, don’t you?” you said with a hint of an eyeroll.

“Oh, I meant me falling for you, love,” he said in a very suave, sexy tone.

You raised your eyebrows and laid your hand on your chest as if to calm a wicked heart. “Sirius,” you breathed, “does that utter shite usually get you laid?”

Sirius barked a laugh in surprise. “A gentleman never tells,” he said when he stopped laughing.

“Yes, but does that utter shite usually get you laid?” you repeated, obviously questioning his status as a gentleman.

Sirius laughed again, captivated by your cheeky banter. “Darling, I am going to find Rollie, rescue him and sweep you off your feet and then, I will take you to dinner.” You both laughed at that. “But now, I have work in the morning. I had best go and get some sleep.”

“Of course, I’m sorry to have kept you.”

“Not at all, love. Under the circumstances this was a great evening. Blimey, under most circumstances this was still a great evening.”

“Except the part where I cried on you,” you said, a bit embarrassed.

“But that was completely offset by the lap dance,” he joked. “Really, I’m so glad we met. We can do this together. We’re gonna bring Rollie home.”


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, you were finishing up the letter you were writing to your parents, updating them with the information that you had received from Sirius and asking if they could come any sooner. You had already sent an owl to your Auntie that you would be over for lunch so that you could tell her what was happening in person. 

The knock at the door took you by surprise; you didn’t think any of your friends knew you were in town and your Auntie was so consumed with worry that she rarely left her home. You stood up to go and look out the peephole.

Sirius? And two older men. And Sirius looked decidedly uncomfortable. You palmed your wand discreetly and opened the door a crack, magical equivalent of a hotel lock in place in case the men with Sirius were not friendly.

“Hello, Sirius. Didn’t expect to see you back so soon?” Translation: What are you doing here?

“I’m sorry. Remember the paranoid sort I warned you about?” he asked, gesturing to one of the men with his head.

“Watch that smart mouth, Black!” Moody said with a good-natured cuff to the back of Sirius’ head.

You took a deep breath and opened the door. The three men came inside, the one who smacked Sirius actually leaning close to you and sniffing you.

“I beg your pardon!” you said indignantly.

“Harrumph,” Moody grunted as he walked away. “No dark magic on her.”

“What in Merlin’s saggy –” you started to rant.

“I’m so sorry,” Sirius interrupted quietly as Moody and the other gentleman invited themselves into your home, splitting up and snooping all over. “They’re Aurors I work with, Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt. I told them about you and how we met –”

“You told them that?” you interjected in a furious whisper.

“Not all of that,” he responded in a matching tone. “Just that you helped me get away from Death Eaters so Moody automatically decided you were a spy.”

“But not the…the lap…part?” you asked awkwardly.

“No. Keeping that all for myself,” he said with a naughty smirk that both charmed and infuriated you.

You slapped his shoulder softly. “Stop that.”

The smirk spread to an outright grin. “I won’t talk about it to anyone but you, but you can’t keep me from,” he looked you up and down here, “remembering it.”

You decided you rather liked this teasing man, and flirting was infinitely more enjoyable than thinking of paranoid wizards looking through your bureau. You smiled back and said, “Now, why would we need to talk about that?”

“Might wanna reminisce when we’re old and gray with our grandchildren playing at our feet,” he said in a voice just above a husky whisper.

“What complete rubbish!” you giggled.

“Black!” Moody called. “Get over here. Not paying you to sweet talk the lass.”

“Wasn’t aware that you were paying me at all,” Sirius grumbled, frowning at his excellent flirting being interrupted.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, someday we can reminisce about this,” you said with a wink.

“Minx,” he whispered, then went over to where Moody was going through your mother’s writing desk.

“Can I get anyone some tea?” you called out, attempting to be polite.

“Love some!” a voice called down the stairs.

“Please,” Sirius said with a smile.

You waited a moment for Moody to respond, but he kept up his snooping. Sirius shrugged and made a ‘sorry my boss is a bit of an arse’ face.

You smiled and went to the kitchen to get the tea. There was nothing to find that should interest them so you weren’t interested in watching them work.

You returned with a tea tray and some biscuits like a proper hostess. Customs were very important to your world-traveler parents and the most common custom in England was to offer tea to guests. It wasn’t automatic from seeing your Mum do it all your life so much as from seeing your Auntie do it every summer of your life.

“What’s this?” Moody waved at you when you returned. “Reporting in? Telling our secrets?”

“Ah I believe if you look closely at the salutation on the letter you’ll find that it is addressed to 'Mum and Dad,’ which I know can be terribly confusing to those raised by wild animals, or at least to those with manners like they had been, but I generally call my parents by those names,” you said sarcastically.

Sirius looked down in defeat. Moody liked nothing better than to decimate a cocky recruit. For all intents and purposes you had just sassed the bloke doing your hiring interview.

“And how would you address a letter to a Death Eater, then?” he sniped at you.

“I feel like this is a trick question,” you said pertly, “since I don’t correspond with evil, racist, murdering dickheads.”

Sirius visibly flinched.

Moody grunted and…turned away. “Got some sand, this lass,” he muttered.

Sirius glared at his back and you snickered at his expression that seemed to say, 'Oh, she has sand but if I mouth off I get smacked in the head.’

You walked over to the stairs and called up, “If you’re almost finished looking through my knickers, the tea is done.”

“Thanks, love,” he called back pleasantly.

You shook your head at the pleasant rejoinder that lacked a denial, then returned to sit down and pour tea. “I certainly hope he’s not a pervert. I don’t have that many changes of clothes, I didn’t plan to stay long.”

You proceeded to pour Sirius’ tea, recalling how he took it from the evening previous. Moody moved off into other rooms.

“Thanks, love,” he said as he took the cup, and even though you knew the endearment was commonly used, had in fact just been called that by a complete stranger, somehow coming from his lips it seemed…intimate?

“Welcome,” you whispered back.

Sirius heard a different note in your voice and tilted his head a bit as he sipped his tea. A moment ago you had been bold, brazen, brash; now you were acting timid, demure. “Alright?”

You smiled. “Yeah, fine. Just all caught up with me now I’m sitting.”

Kingsley came down the stairs and Moody appeared from the kitchen. They sat down in chairs across from the sofa where you and Sirius sat.  

“Looks like you are who you say you are,” Moody growled, which seemed to be his normal tone of voice.

“Thanks,” you replied. “Auror Shacklebolt, how do you take your tea?”

“Two sugars, and please call me Kingsley,” he said with a pleasant smile.

You poured for him and offered a biscuit.

“All done playing tea party?” Moody asked sarcastically.

“Nonsense, if we were playing tea party I would have brought fancy hats and gloves for you all to wear,” you responded sweetly.

“Your. Cousin.”

Your smile turned into a frown. “Yes. Rollie.”

“He was working with us,” Kingsley took over. “Same as Sirius. He was assigned to the neighborhood where you met Sirius to patrol.”

“Alone?” you asked, trying to keep the sneer from your voice.

Kingsley hesitated. “We’re spread thin. He volunteered to patrol alone because there hadn’t been any activity in the area. Course it picked up after he disappeared. Like they’re thumbing their noses at us.”

You nodded reluctantly. “I can see him doing that,” you whispered.

Sirius reached over and took your hand, giving it a light squeeze. You accepted the comfort from him, and as you smiled at each other, Moody and Kingsley shared a look that said they noticed.

“So, Black, we don’t recall assigning you to that neighborhood. In fact,” Moody said archly, “I believe we ordered you to take a night off work.”

Sirius sighed. “My friend is missing. His body,” he said hesitantly, looking at you apologetically, “hasn’t turned up as others who’ve gone missing have. So, yeah, I was snooping on my night off.”

“And this lovely lady saved your arse?” Kingsley asked.

You chimed in here. “I was also snooping because no one at the Ministry would listen to me. I overheard some shady-looking blokes talking about torturing someone called 'Black’ with 'crucies.’ Anyone who talks about using an Unforgivable like they talk about grabbing a pint – What else could I have done?”

“I was in deep shite,” Sirius added grimly. “If she hadn’t given me cover to leave, I know I would be dead – or maybe just wishing for it.”

“So, young lady,” Kingsley said, “seems we have the same objective. What have you learned?”

“Nothing!” you exclaimed in frustration, slapping your hands down on your legs. “I’ve been all over the neighborhood, said he owed me money, played drunk, sweet-talked men…I tried a location spell, but that didn’t work either.”

The three men all looked at each other and fought to keep smirks from their faces.

“What?” you asked. “What’s funny?”

“Ain’t no such thing as a location spell, girl,” Moody said bluntly.

You scoffed. “Beg to differ.”

Sirius shook his head. “Look, love, even if it was dark magic, my family would know it. The Blacks are one of the Sacred Twenty-eight, after all,” he said smugly.

You chuckled and shook your head, confusing Sirius. “You English, so quick to colonize and assume you know more. Your head would spin at the amount of knowledge those poor, ignorant Natives have kept from you.”

“Fine, then, why didn’t your extremely real spell work, then?” Moody challenged you, blunt as a rock.

“Because he had been gone too long,” you sighed, not interested in getting into a magical pissing contest. “I used some hair from his brush at my Aunt’s house, but he had been gone for weeks by then. The Spirit needs to be in contact with the material used more recently.”

“Could it – could it mean his Spirit has departed?” Kingsley asked quietly.

Sirius and Moody both looked at him like he was crazy. He shook his head at them. “My great-grandmother came here from Africa. She went to Uagadou and would have liked you very much,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you, Kingsley. Yes, it could mean the spirit has departed, but I had very little hope that it would work because it had been so long. So in this case, it really proves nothing.”

Moody harrumphed. “Expect that’s what it’s always proved.”

“Alistair, is it really so hard to believe that Hogwarts doesn’t know all there is to know about magic?” Kingsley asked.

“No, but it seems like a valuable spell like that would have gotten out,” he argued.

“Why is that? Why on Earth would countries and peoples that have been ground under the boot heel of British oppression for centuries share a single iota of magic that they didn’t have to?” you asked in disgusted incredulity. “For the love of the oppressor? I hate to break it to you, Auror Moody, but the British are not well-liked around the world. And from your accent, I thought I detected a bit of Scot? Are you really telling me that your great-great-grandmother didn’t have any secrets she kept from the dirty English?”

Moody looked back and forth between you and Kingsley and nodded once. “Fair enough.”

Sirius jumped in at this point. “So, should she come to a meeting?”

You snorted. “If a bloody meeting is anything like this great sharing of information, no thank you.”

“I think she should,” Kingsley said loudly and quickly. “The two of them working together makes sense. They look like a couple already. With a bit more practice they could be believable and could be inserted into any situation. Like Potter and Evans.”

“No turnin’ back from this, girl,” Moody warned.

“Will you help me find my cousin?” you asked intently.

“One way or the other, yes,” he replied tersely.

“Then I’m in.”

Moody stood to go, looked at Sirius and said, “Bring her.” He turned and walked to the front door and opened it.

Kingsley stood to follow but turned to you and extended his hand. You stood and accepted it. “It was a pleasure making your acquaintance.”

“And you,” you said warmly.

“Sirius, stay here and tell her what she needs to know before the meeting. Get used to each other. As soon as she’s ready, you’ll be working together.”

“Yes, sir,” he said seriously.

Kingsley nodded at both of you and took his leave with Moody.

“Little does he know…” Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows.

You laughed. “Shut it, nitwit.”

“Wanna go round the chip shop?” he asked with a smile.

“No, actually, I need to go to see my Auntie. Come with?”

“Yeah, all right,” he said with a smile. “We can hold hands on the walk over and decide how much to tell her.”

“Yeah, I reckon we’d best,” you agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

You did hold hands as you strolled, but it wasn’t in the least bit awkward. Maybe there was something about him having his hands on your ass while you made out before introductions that made it seem like a nice, safe thing to do within a day of meeting someone.

You decided that you wouldn’t share very much with your aunt; there wasn’t much more to know and she would only worry about you. You couldn’t stand the thought of her fretting after you on top of Rollie.

So you introduced Sirius as your new friend, he implied that you were dating and you were able to fool a family member with your ruse. As you looked up several times and found him looking at you, and were looking at him just as often, you had to wonder how much of a ruse it really was.

You strolled back home, hand-in-hand again, chatting and laughing as if you had known each other for months instead of hours. You wondered if this was typical for Sirius; with a face and body like that, you certainly wouldn’t be the only female to notice him. You rather doubted he was hard up for dates.

But was this instant connection simply a matter of circumstance? Did you simply feel a kinship because your missions had merged?

* * *

You went back to your lounge and sat down on the sofa together. “What shall we do now? Anything else you need to tell me before the meeting? Any girlfriends going to loathe me on sight because we’re playing a couple?”

“No, darling,” he said meaningfully, “no girlfriend at present. Honestly, I haven’t dated much since school. Once we graduated and joined the Order – well, I reckon life got a bit too real for me to want to fall in love with anyone.”

“You can’t stop it from happening if it’s supposed to happen, Sirius,” you said softly, looking into his lovely silvery eyes.

“I just…I look at my best mate, James and – he’s more like a brother, really, and he’s so scared all the time. It’s just, he has so much more to lose than I did.”

“Did?”

“Do. I mean ‘do,’ of course.”

You paused for a moment. “Sirius, d’you reckon we feel closer than usual as?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“Do you think it’s because of our unorthodox meeting?”

“I dunno. I just know that I feel like I know you better than people I’ve known for most of my life,” he said quietly.

“I feel the same,” you said with a nod. “This is either disconcerting or amazing. I can’t decide which.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see, hmm?” he said with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Now, shall we make out on the sofa for a while in case there’s call for it on a mission? Wouldn’t want to look unnatural at it, would we?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You don’t think me straddling you and rubbing all over you was practice enough?” you asked skeptically.

“Hey, that was a lifesaving lapdance. How many girls can say that?” he said with a wink.

“Wiggle a bum, save a life?”

“Do it for the Ministry!”

You were both laughing hysterically at this point, heads resting on the back of the sofa. You turned to face him when the hilarity wore off and leaned over to kiss him.

He kissed you back.

You pulled apart panting. “It’s easy to get lost in you,” you said to Sirius. “We need to become accustomed to touch.”

“Love, if you hadn’t been who you are and what you are and saved my arse, I’d be dead because I could not take my eyes off you even before you dropped into my lap.”

“Ah, well, if that’s your type I hate to tell you that I don’t usually wear enough cosmetics to make up every alien in an entire season of Doctor Who.”

“Oh, no! Were the gorgeous long legs in the absolutely scandalous skirt also not yours?”

You reached over and held his hand supportively. “This is going to be so hard to break to you, but no, they were not, in fact, my legs! I stole them, and I’d do it again! And you’ll never catch me!”

Sirius was trying not to laugh but when you tried to run away while holding his hand and he pulled you back, you wound up draped across his lap and he burst out laughing.

“It seems I caught you.”

“Curses, foiled again,” you said with a goofy smile.

“I really don’t think you wanted to get away from me at all, mademoiselle.”

“You’ve caught me! I enjoyed your lap so last night that I rarely want to be anywhere else.”

“Excellent, my plan has worked,” he said in his best villain voice. “Soon, you will know the tickle wrath of Lapman!”

He began tickling you while you howled in laughter, attempting to tickle him back but he either wasn’t very ticklish or could ignore it better than you.

He was laying half on top of you, both of your wrists caught in one of his hands above your head, tickling you and growling fiercely.

You were laughing hysterically. “No, stop, I’ll never give in!”

He was laughing, as well, and you worked your legs around him trying to dislodge him, however it had a very unintended consequence.

The next time you squirmed, Sirius groin rubbed against yours. You gasped a bit and he groaned; you both stopped laughing and looked into each other’s eyes. He dipped his lips down to brush against yours, releasing your hands from his to caress your cheek while he deepened the kiss.

When you sank your fingers into his curls and bit his bottom lip before licking into his mouth, Sirius moaned your name against your lips. You felt his hard-on pressed against your core and it made you tighten your legs around his waist even more.

Suddenly, Sirius pulled back and said, “Love, as much as I’m enjoying this…”

Your passion-dazed eyes came back into focus and you said, “Oh, dear.” You unwound your legs from his waist.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “We seem to have a bit of chemistry, darling.”

“Just a bit?” you said with a laugh. “I dunno about you, but I have never lost control like I do with you.”

“Likewise,” Sirius said, then pecked your swollen lips once more because he simply had to before sitting up and pulling a cushion into his lap.

You giggled and pulled the pillow away and straddled his lap, though not directly on his erection. “I felt it, Sirius, you’re not hiding anything from me.”

“We have a bit of a problem, love,” he said quietly.

“Dunno if it’s a problem, precisely.”

He shook his head and said, “We can’t lose control like that in the field. It will cost one or both of our lives.”

“Oh,” you said quietly, seriously. “D'you think it’s best if we don’t partner, then?”

“Godric, no! We just need to learn to control it,” he said adamantly.

You were taken aback at his tone. “You’re very determined.”

He leaned forward and kissed your nose. “Can you blame me? If they say you have to be partnered up with some other bloke and I have to watch you kiss him, well…I wouldn’t like it much.”

“We’ve known each other a day. You’re gonna be jealous already?” you said, voice dripping with doubt.

“Why should that surprise you?” he asked as he leaned forward to kiss your neck just below your ear. “You tellin’ me you don’t feel it?”

You shivered a bit. “Yeah,” you answered dreamily, “I feel it.”

“So,” he said, scooting you a bit closer and sliding his hand up your leg to your hip as he kissed your neck some more, “you can understand why I don’t want anyone else to feel it, can’t you?”

You decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. He had on a button up shirt and you slipped your index finger into the collar and down, popping a couple buttons on the way. “I’m an only child, I don’t share well. Not well at all.” More buttons were undone as your hand slipped inside to caress his chest and you took the opportunity to kiss his neck then.

“I can definitely learn to adapt,” he sighed. “But perhaps we should behave –”

You interrupted him with a proper kiss, hand not in his shirt tangled in his hair. He groaned and went with it, because fucking hell, this was just as perfect as last night had been; it had definitely not been a fluke or the rush of danger.

This was pure attraction.

When you pulled apart, you were both panting and dopey, your hand still tracing patterns on his chest.

“You’re too handsome by half. I think I’ll spend all of my time giving other girls the evil eye. I’ll never be able to leave you to go to the loo.”

“Like I won’t be smashing faces in left and right.”

“You’re right, we need to control this. Falling ass over broomstick for you won’t do me any good if I get you killed,” you whispered, looking into his eyes. “Can we do this?”

He nodded. “Yes. We need to talk to James and Lily and maybe Frank and Alice tonight, though.”

He had spoken of his friends while you walked to your Auntie’s earlier so you knew they were young married couples and ran missions. “That frightens me a bit, Sirius.”

“Me, too, love,” he whispered. “If I had my choice I would have met you when the war was over and we could just be normal and go on a date, but this is when we found each other. I’m not going to lose us because it happened at an inconvenient time.”

“Maybe we’ll get to know each other better and find we loathe one another,” you joked.

He shook his head slowly. “I know you’re kidding but I don’t see that happening,” he said as he rubbed your back in soothing, long strokes that made you want to purr like a satisfied cat on a sunny patch of rug.

“Me either,” you hummed as you arched your back and stretched because Sirius’ backrub felt so good.

“Godric, darling, you’ll be the death of me,” he whispered, unable to look away from your slightly open lips, the column of your throat with the pulse fluttering at its base, your upthrust breasts. You looked as if you were in the throes of passion and he wanted to carry you up to your bedroom and see what you’d look like if you were actually riding him.

You looked at him with passion-clouded eyes once again, licked your lips and said, “What’d I do?”

He dropped his head to the back of the sofa and said, “Your every move seduces me. Don’t tell me you don’t know that.”

“Says the man leaning back to tempt me with his throat and jaw. Look at your pulse racing,” you said, leaning forward to kiss the base of his throat.

Sirius groaned and said, “Off my lap or on my cock, love. I’m at my breaking point.”

You hesitated but dropped next to him on the sofa, resisting temptation – just barely. “Probably better figure out our birth control options, pretty quickly. Unless you want a baby with my good looks. And personality. And intelligence.”

“What about me?” Sirius asked, offended.

“Well, you’re nice and tall, that could come in handy.”

“I have a lot to offer a child. I’m funny..

I can sing…” Sirius sputtered.

“Well, if we want our child to go into the theater we should definitely hope he or she takes after you,” you said with a smirk, then you started laughing. “Are you really put out that you may not pass on more characteristics to our fictional offspring? Bit silly, that.”

“Yeah, I reckon,” he answered with a laugh. “I expect we should go on a date before we start picking baby names.”

“Well, I’d say we’ve had enough practice then. Unless we really do want to discuss baby names.”

“Doesn’t sound so terrible when you put it that way,” he said mischievously wiggling his eyebrows.

You smiled at him. “We’re in quite deep for a day, aren’t we?” you asked quietly.

He nodded. “Terrifying, that, dontcha think?”

“Hmm,” you agreed, though calmly. “Should be interesting attempting to work while sighing dreamily over the extremely handsome father of my future children.”

Sirius looked at you questioningly for a moment. “Part of me thinks that you can’t possibly be true. How could a woman so beautiful and intelligent and funny and quick-witted just fall out of the sky, and oh by the way, she’s one of your mate’s cousin.”

Your eyes widened. “D'you think I’m a spy?” you asked in surprise.

“No, but it worries me that I never considered for a moment that you could be,” he said seriously. “Moody is paranoid enough for all of us, though.”

“What does the other part of you think, by the way?” you asked with a cheeky smile.

“That I should grab you and keep you,” he said seriously.

“I tend to agree with that part of you,” you said, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Me, too,” he whispered, leaning sideways to kiss the crown of your head.


	5. Chapter 5

The chip shop was loud and delicious, and you strolled together hand in hand to the meeting place. When you arrived, Sirius handed you a piece of paper with the address on it so that you could enter the place that was hidden by a Fidelius Charm.

As soon as you entered the place, you hung back, nervous as could be about meeting all of Sirius’ friends.

“All right?” he whispered.

“Yeah, just a bit nervous about meeting your mates.”

He smiled and draped his arm across your shoulder, pulling you in for a quick kiss to the temple before dropping his arm and picking up your hand. “They’ll think you’re aces, just like I do.” He smiled and said, “I’m actually a bit nervous meself. Haven’t ever dated a bird James didn’t know.”

“Oh, are we dating, then? Are you my boyfriend, Sirius Black?” you asked with a cheeky grin.

“Well,” he drawled, pulling you close so he could whisper, “I do know what sort of knickers you wear, first-hand knowledge to boot! Shouldn’t I do the right thing and let you find out what sort of pants I wear?”

“Padfoot?”

You looked over to see who had spoken when Sirius started dragging you over to a group of people around your own age. “Padfoot?” you asked curiously.

“Nickname,” he said with a grin.

“Ah.”

“Everyone, this is the lass I told you about,” he said, dropping your hand and sliding his arm around your shoulders. “This is James, Lily, Peter, Alice, Frank, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary.”

“Hello! I’m so sorry, I’m rubbish at names but I will try my best to remember!” you said with a friendly wave.

“It’s all right,” a gorgeous green-eyed redhead said as she skillfully separated you from Sirius. “We quite outnumber you, so we’ll give you time to figure us out. We’re just so pleased to meet someone Sirius has brought ‘round! You have to tell us how you met.”

“Oh, well,” you said, looking for Sirius. “We, ah, met at a pub. I’m Rollie Clevenger’s cousin.”

“Oh!” she said in surprise, then changed her demeanor entirely. “I’m so sorry, we’ve all been terribly worried for him. He’s a sweetheart of a lad.”

“He is,” you agreed, appreciating that she referred to him in the present tense. “Sirius and I were both trying to dig up something on him and ran into each other.”

You felt his arm slide around your waist. “What she means by that is she saved my arse. I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for this darling girl,” he said, dropping a kiss on your head.

“Nonsense, you’d have been fine,” you said with a smile, unconsciously snuggling closer to his side.

Lily took in the casual intimacy the two of you shared and glanced over at James who was also watching with a bit of a shocked look upon his face.

An old wizard arrived and from the deference everyone paid his entrance you assumed that this was the famous, perhaps infamous Dumbledore.

“Let us begin,” he said in the tone of a schoolmaster, which is what he was at heart. “I see a new face next to our Mr. Black. Would you care to introduce us, Sirius?”

“This is Rollie’s cousin and she’s an amazing witch who saved my life last night,” he said, a touch of pride in his voice.

“Ah, we understand that you have knowledge of a spell that could prove most useful to the order if it is indeed able to accomplish that which you claim,” Dumbledore said.

Your eyebrows shot up. “I beg your pardon, sir?” you said, but your eyes were on Sirius, who had the good grace to look surprised. “And what spell might that be?”

“We invited you here this evening to demonstrate a location spell, which would be most useful, as well as quite spectacular to see as I have never heard of such in all my long years of wizarding,” he said in a sweet tone with a grandfatherly smile. “Mr. Black and Aurors Moody and Shacklebolt all seemed most convinced of your sincerity.”

You smiled back tightly. “Of course. And who shall I locate?”

“Mr. Black’s classmate Remus Lupin is awaiting detection,” he said with a nod.

“And how old is the sample with which I shall be working?” you said in a posh accent to match that of Dumbledore.

“I assure you it is from today,” he said courteously.

“Just to be sure, how about I take a sample from Mr. Black and he can go join his friend?” you asked pleasantly, then turned to look at Sirius with a sneered. “I assure  _you_ , he is of no further use to me otherwise.”

Sirius visibly blanched.

“That will be fine. Mr Black, let Miss Y/L/N take whatever –”

“Ouch!” Sirius exclaimed as you yanked a hunk of his hair out by the roots.

“This will be perfect. Look, I even got a bit of blood! Off you go now,” you said scathingly, ashamed that you had allowed him to kiss you and hold you.

“Love,” he began quietly.

“Bye!” you said, turning your back on him.

Sirius talked to Moody to find out where Remus was, then came over to you and whispered, “Love, please –”

“I’ll need supplies and a map,” you interrupted tonelessly. You wanted nothing more than to perform the spell and leave.

Sirius sighed and left.

* * *

Just to be spiteful, you performed the spell without your wand. When the crystal you were using in the spell pointed directly to the address where Sirius had disapparated to, however, Dumbledore had politely requested that you repeat the spellwork so that he could record it for future use.

As soon as you were done, you left the place without another word, feeling used up as a tissue.

* * *

You almost went to your Auntie’s house, feeling the need to cry on a shoulder, but she had enough to worry about so you simply went home.

What were you doing here? You didn’t know anything about spying or detective work. You went to the kitchen and made yourself a cuppa, considering spiking it with firewhiskey but then deciding you would just go to bed. After all, you had been up most of the night with Sirius.

That prick. How could you be so foolish? One had only to look at his pretty face to know that he would be a faithless bastard. You’d led a sheltered life but had still seen some heartless shits in your day; Black was up there with the best of them.

You had just finished your tea and sent the cup back to the kitchen and were heading to bed when there was a knock at the door. “Bloody bloody bloody fucking hell,” you cursed, knowing who it would be on the other side of the door.

You went to look out the peephole and sent an instant Calvorio curse out at Sirius.

“Oh, enough with the hair!” he yelled as you watched him regrow his hair.

“Fuck off, Black,” you yelled back. “Fool me once, shame on you.”

“Merlin, would you just listen to me?” he yelled again.

You went upstairs and got ready for bed, then cried yourself to sleep.  _Fool me twice, shame on me. You won’t get a second chance, Black._


	6. Chapter 6

Sirius appeared a few more times and even sent flowers but you were done with him. You peeked out the window or through the peephole to make sure it was him but you didn’t engage him any further.

You had written to your parents to have them come as soon as possible because you were ready to admit that you were in over your head. Let Dumbledore build his army of children. You were going to depend on the wisdom of people who actually cared about your cousin.

You were reading a book and listening to music when there was a knock at the door.

“Bloody hell, Sirius, take a hint,” you muttered, rising from your seat to go and make sure it was your former faux boyfriend of a day.

You were shocked when you looked out and saw Moody. “I see you looking out your spyhole, girl. Open up and listen to me.”

You debated. Strangely, of the three men who had sat in your living room the other day, this one was the one you actually felt the least amount of anger toward; he had never pretended to be anything he wasn’t.

You opened the door a little and said formally, “Auror Moody, what can I do for you?”

“You can start by letting me in. I’m a target out here on the street,” he growled.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll understand that a single female with questionable judgement shouldn’t invite strange men into her home. That sort of thing seems to bite one in the posterior.”

“Let me in, you smarth mouth little shite! You’re interfering with my business and I mean to put an end to it.”

You opened the door a bit further, not sure whether you were being brave or foolish. “How, prithee, am I interfering with your business?”

He hustled through the door and you rolled your eyes and closed it behind him. “You’re making one of my best trainees into a brainless, lovesick imbecile and I will have n'more of it, girl!” he thundered.

“I beg your pardon, Auror Moody, but your trainee and you and Auror Shacklebolt used me for my spell! He served me up like a sideshow freak with not a word of warning!” you fumed. “So you can tell him to take his Sacred Twenty-eight and jam them up his –”

“Young lady, I am going to speak to you as I would a daughter if I had one, because you’ve got the grit I’d expect a girl of mine to have. That’s why I’ll tell you to stop crying and talk to that boy! He’s useless to me until you straighten this out,” he said as he walked around your living room, looking at the same knick knacks and family photos as before. “He was under orders not to tell you anything about anything before the meeting. And he didn’t know that you’d be forced to do the spell, either.”

“He didn’t?” you asked quietly.

“Use that head for more than holding your hair up, girl!” he snapped. “He didn’t know about the spell until you told all three of us and you were with him the rest of the day. I was the one told Dumbledore!”

“Oh, no,” you whispered.

“Oh, yes,” he mocked you. “Now the next time that boy comes around you let him in and you kiss and make up. For some reason he seems attached. Bad idea, that.”

He headed to the door and opened it, leaving without another word.

Looked like you were cooking dinner and baking biscuits to attempt to make up with your former but genuine boyfriend for a day and see if he wanted to shoot for two days of uninterrupted dating.

Luckily you still had some of his hair in case you waited too long and needed to hunt him down to grovel.

* * *

 

There was a hesitant knock at your door, not at all like the pounding Sirius had taken to doing the last couple days before Moody visited. You smoothed your hair and looked out the peephole to make sure it was Sirius before you swung the door open, but when you saw his nervous countenance you opened it right away.

You simply looked at each other for a moment, each drinking the other in visually as if you had been together in one lifetime and reunited in this. Perhaps you had, you thought irreverently. Many societies believed in reincarnation, maybe you had been together before.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“Hello, d’you wanna come in?” you asked nervously.

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile.

You stepped out of his way and he came in, his cologne teasing you as he passed.

What was it about this man?

You turned to him and said, “Tea?” just as he grabbed you and pulled you into his arms.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

You relaxed into his embrace. “I’m sorry I wouldn’t listen,” you whispered back, as if a normal tone of voice would break some spell.

“I understand, love.”

“Ah, sorry I nearly beheaded you, as well,” you said, leaning back to look into his eyes. “I’ve a bit of a temper.”

“Saw that,” he said with a smile. “Very sexy.”

You giggled and slid your hands up his chest to wrap around his neck, kissing his chin before he lowered his lips to yours. You both groaned at the sensation, as if you had been apart for millennia rather than days; as if you had been together for an age rather than a day.

“This is weird,” he panted when you pulled apart.

“Every girl’s dream after a make-up kiss. I can only imagine what you’ll say if we ever have make-up sex,” you said sarcastically.

“Wanna find out?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

You laughed. “How is it I missed you when you’ve been a part of my life less time than we were apart?” you asked, mystified.

“I expect because I’m extremely handsome,” he said arrogantly.

“Merlin, you’re a dope. Now I’m even more confused,” you said with a laugh as you started to walk away.

He pulled you back. “I didn’t know they were going to make you do the spell like that, love.”

“I know. I’m so sorry I jumped to that conclusion. Moody explained to me that I was both emotional and stupid,” you said with a chuckle. “And that I was ruining his trainee. For that I am sorry, Sirius.”

“Well, Dumbles can be a bit intimidating, but he’s a good wizard.”

“But is he a good man?”

“Hmm?” Sirius asked, confused.

You shrugged, leading Sirius over to the sofa and snuggling up to him. “Did you happen to notice the median age of the people in the Order?”

“We’re young, yeah. Doesn’t mean we can’t fight,” he said indignantly.

“No, of course not. It also doesn’t imbue you with the wisdom that age does.”

Sirius considered his words carefully, worried that you had just gotten back together – whatever together meant for the two of you – and he didn’t want to risk upsetting you, but neither did he want to have to walk on eggshells to be with you. “Love, not everyone knows this but,” he sighed deeply, “there are people under his control within the Ministry.”

You gasped.

He nodded and went on, “Yeah. So, Dumbles knows he can trust us because he’s known us since we were little firsties.”

“He can trust you.”

“Exactly.”

“And he doesn’t know me.”

“Yeah,” he breathed.

“And he thinks that you’re thinking with your dick.”

He shrugged. “To be fair, it was involved in our initial meeting.”

You giggled and kissed him. “Your dick is very intelligent, though.”

He pulled you across his lap and whispered against your ear, “But you haven’t even been formally introduced!” before he kissed you hungrily.

There was a knock at the door.

“Who could that be? You’re here,” you moaned, his lips on your neck and his hands on your ass.

He stilled. “Shit,” he hissed. “I told James I was going to try and talk to you so it might be him and Lily. But they wouldn’t be that stupid, would they?” he muttered.

“Reckon you better start thinking about something other than how many times you’ve gotten this close to getting into my knickers in case it is them,” you said with a shimmy and a giggle as you got off his lap.

“When I do, and yes I mean ‘when,’ you better plan on spending about a week with my face between your thighs,” he said to get back at you.

You shivered and licked your lips. “Don’t really care who’s at the door now, actually,” you said in a husky whisper. “My parents will be here in a few days. Let’s see if we can break my bed.”

There was another, more insistent knock at the door then. “Black, Y/L/N, open up,” you heard Moody’s gruff voice call out.

“Fuck,” Sirius groaned.

“Not right now, apparently,” you sighed, looking mournfully down at the bulge in his jeans. “What a waste.”

“I reckon if anything can make it go away, it’s Moody,” he said with a good-natured laugh.

“May as well laugh so we don’t cry, eh?” you said as you headed over to the door, exaggerating your hip wiggle as you walked.

“Absolute monster,” he grumbled behind you.

“Oh,” you exclaimed. “Moody brought friends,” you said in a hard voice. You glanced back at his jeans and saw that his obvious arousal was less so. “Ready?”

He nodded, a frown marring his perfect face.

You opened the door and greeted your visitors. “Auror Moody, Auror Shacklebolt, Headmaster Dumbledore. How may I assist you?”

“May we come in?” Dumbledore asked politely.

You gave him a brittle smile. “Would it matter if we said no?”

Sirius looked at you in surprise at the ‘we.’ “Probably not, love,” he said as he slid a possessive arm around your waist, the symbolism not wasted on anyone present. “Won’t you all come in?”

“Thank you, Mr. Black,” Dumbledore said politely as he came inside.

Moody smacked him on the head as he went by.

“Tea?” you offered politely if not precisely warmly.

“How kind of you, my dear,” Dumbledore said as he took a seat.

Sirius followed you to the kitchen.

“Do you have any idea why they’re here?” you whispered as you readied a tea tray.

“Not a clue,” he said as he helped.

“Good thing I didn’t eat all the biscuits while I was on my crying jag,” you said drily.

Sirius was at your side and pulling you into his arms in an instant. “I’m so sorry, love.”

“Mmm while I like the cuddles, it’s fine,  _schatje_.”

“What?”

“Oh!” you exclaimed, a bit embarrassed. “I had a Dutch governess.  _Schatje_  is an endearment. Like 'sweetie,’ I suppose.”

He squeezed you. “I like it.”

“Good,” you said, standing on tiptoes to give him a peck, then spelling the tea tray to lead the way back to the parlor.

You poured the tea while Sirius made small talk, then when everyone was holding a drink and a biscuit, you said, “To what do we owe the honor of your presence?”

“I wished to apologize, Miss Y/L/N. You were put on the spot and could have refused to perform the spell or performed it incorrectly, but you gave us a weapon if you were the enemy. This reassured me that you were not,” Dumbledore explained.

You looked at him for a moment before conceding the point. “Sirius explained to me this evening why you put me on the spot like you did. I suppose I understand.”

“Thank you,” he said politely. “Please believe me, it is of the utmost importance to us to find out what happened to your cousin.”

“That is a relief, because I got nowhere with the Ministry or by myself. It’s as if he simply vanished.”

“We shall do our very best to get you and your family the answers you deserve.”

“Thank you,” you said quietly, the weight of your cousin’s disappearance pressing down on your spirit.

* * *

 

The wizards stayed an hour or so longer, discussing your role within the Order now that they knew they could trust you.

After they left, you fell back into Sirius’ arms. When you gave it thought, you were spectacularly frightened of the way you felt for Sirius, so you preferred not to think and simply to feel.

While you stood by the door and held each other, Sirius’ stomach gave a terrific growl.

You snickered and said, “Hungry, darling?”

He chuckled. “I was going to try to say something clever and sexy about being hungry for you, but yeah I’m famished.”

“Well isn’t it your good fortune that I put on a frilly little apron and made you dinner?” you teased.

“You cooked for me?” he said, looking like he was going to faint with joy.

You held out your hand. “Dinner is served, my Lord,” you said in your best posh accent.

Sirius took your hand and followed you to the kitchen where he was treated to an eclectic assortment of soups, entrees, side dishes and desserts. “I wasn’t sure what you liked besides pizza, so I made…a lot.”

He walked over and pinned you gently to the counter, then lifted you up and stood between your legs, kissing you slowly, like he had all the time in the world.

“Thank you for making dinner, darling.”

“You work so hard to support me and the kids, it’s the least I can do,” you said with a grin, arms draped around his neck.

“Traditional girl, then? Meet me after a hard day’s work with my pipe and slippers, that sort of thing?”

“Merlin, no. I think you have me mixed up with the family dog,” you said with a laugh. “My job is to make you dinner, greet you at the door in a sheer negligee and then sit on your lap and feed you.”

“Godric, marry me!” he groaned back, all of the images feeding his stomach, his libido or his ego, and they were all of them gluttons.

“Watch it or I’ll have to hold you to it,” you said with a laugh. “Grab a plate.”


	7. Chapter 7

Sirius ate so much he could barely move. “Everything was absolutely delicious. I’ve never tasted some of the like.”

“Mmm yes I’ve learned a few traditional dishes from friends in Africa. I traveled to some of their homes and their families were so generous welcoming me and teaching me of their cultures.”

“I’ve barely been out of England, I’m a bit jealous of your travels,” he said with a frown. “My parents think that anyone outside of England is beneath us, so why would we want to go where they are?”

“Well then I guess I shouldn’t tell you all of the other places I went before I started school.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, m'parents schooled me at home, but home was on the road a lot. Summers here, though. With Auntie and…,” you trailed off, sad thinking of your cousin.

“Hey,” Sirius said, reaching to grasp your hand. “We’re going to find him.”

You shook your head sadly. “He’s been gone so long, Sirius.”

“I know, love, but if it’s humanly possible to find him, I will. He’s my friend.”

You smiled sadly. “I hope so. I don't…”

“What, darling?” he asked, stroking the back of your hand soothingly.

“I just…I feel something with you, but I dunno if I could build it on the back of losing Rollie.”

He inhaled sharply, then let the air out in a slow exhale, as if your words were a blow.

“Oh, dear,” you said jokingly. “Was that for the feelings talk or the other part?”

Sirius put a hand on your cheek, caressing your lower lip with his thumb. “The other part, mostly, but I have feelings for you, as well. In case you couldn’t tell.”

“I don’t know you well, of course, but I rather thought you might. Moody seemed disgusted enough that you must.”

Sirius chuckled. “I swore I wouldn’t get involved with anyone as long as we were at war. But, darling, I am very involved.”

“I didn’t go looking for you, either, but I am so happy that I found you.” You looked down. “And I feel guilty for being happy about anything at all right now.”

“We’re probably quite stupid for falling in,” he stopped himself and cleared his throat, “for falling for each other right now, but now is when we met.” He shrugged. “We could try to stop, but I’m a selfish prick. I want this.”

“I do too,” you whispered.

“Come on, I’ll help you do the washing up,” he said with a smile.

“No dessert?” you asked with a grin.

“Merlin, I may really propose,” he said.

“Go on out and find something on the telly, I’ll bring you dessert. Cuppa?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he said with a grateful smile.

You brought him a slice of Melktert, a few green tea cookies and traditional fudge. He nibbled each and moaned in pleasure, stating that Remus would die for the fudge, so you should hide it.

After he ate all of his dessert and the rest of yours, he groaned and lie back on the sofa. “I’d unbutton my jeans but I don’t want you to get any ideas.”

“Afraid I’ll pounce on you at the first sight of your manly form, hmm?” you teased.

“We both know that you’re absolutely arse over broomstick for me,” he said with a saucy grin.

“I am, actually.”

“Excellent. If you weren’t I was going to go grovel to Lily to make me a love potion for you, because I am crazy about you,” he said with a smile.

“I think that’s all the sugar talking now,” you teased.

“I do feel a bit jumpy. Care to roll around in bed, darling?”

“As long as we don’t have sex I suppose that will be fine,” you said deliberately obtusely.

“Spoilsport,” he declared good-naturedly.

“Indeed. I do hate staying here alone, though,” you said. “Never have before. But I didn’t want Auntie to know what I’m doing so I made out as if I wanted to be a grown up.”

“Want me to stay? Not…for sex. Just to be together?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah. Is that asking too much?”

“No, I think you’re asking for something reasonable.”

“Where do you live, by the way?” you asked out of the blue.

“Flat with Remus. Wanna come see it and I’ll grab a few things?” he asked, hopping to his feet and holding out a hand.

“Absolutely. Let me go tidy up and put on some shoes.” You turned and started up the stairs and Sirius’ eyes were glued to your bum.

“Need any help?” Sirius said mindlessly.

“Been tying my own shoes for weeks now,” you said with a wink. “Be right back.”

You scampered up the rest of the steps and changed your top, forgoing a bra to see if Sirius could hold a conversation with boobs in play, then went into the bathroom and straightened your hair a bit, popped a bit of lip gloss on and called it a day. You slipped on some black Chuck’s and then hurried back down the stairs.

And Sirius watched you bounce down the stairs like he was a dying man and the secret to immortality was hidden in your top.

You giggled and said, “Too much?”

“Not enough,” he growled, feeling possessive.

You tipped your head to the side. “You’re complaining that I am underclothed?”

“I mean…if we were staying in…then the fewer items of clothing, the better, y'know?” he said awkwardly, not even recognizing the utter jealousy and possessiveness he was feeling. “But I don’t want…anyone…”

“Are you saying you don’t want me to go out in public and have other men ogle my boobs, but you’re perfectly all right with my jubblies bouncing free when we’re alone?” you asked suspiciously.

He made a scared face and said, “Yes?” weakly.

“Well, then,” you said in a fake angry voice, pulling your top over your head. “I reckon I’ll go change!” Then you turned and ran back up the stairs, the sight of Sirius’ open mouth at the sight of your naked breasts making you giggle all the way to your room.

“That was cruel!” he yelled up after you.

You put on a bra that honestly wasn’t that much better than going without. You preferred smooth, sheer bras so that you didn’t have scratchy lace against your delicate skin.

You came back down the steps, a bit embarrassed of your impromptu strip tease. Sirius’ eyes were positively glowing.

“You’re mean.”

“How so?” you asked, batting your eyelashes coyly.

“You flashed me,” he said, almost accusingly.

“I did. It was an impulse.”

“Yet I restrained my impulse to follow you upstairs and get at least as unclothed as you,” he purred with a sexy smirk.

“Would you like a prize?” you teased.

“I do believe I would,” he said, smirk blooming into a grin.

“Breakfast in bed tomorrow?” you said softly.

“Sounds like a wonderful reward,” he said, “especially after that dinner you fed me. If I hang around you and eat your cooking I’ll be too plump to catch villains.”

“You’re so silly, Mr. Black,” you said, leaning forward a bit so he could see down your top.

“And you are a rotten child. I feel like you need a good spanking!” he said as he pulled you into his arms and slid one hand down to your bum.

“Let’s not rule anything out,” you said with a wink and a grin.

* * *

You sat and talked to Remus for a few minutes while Sirius packed a bag. You started to follow him to his room when Remus offered you tea rather urgently. After you sat down with your beverages and we’re making small talk, you said casually, “So is his room a regular mess or is he hiding orgy evidence and a dead goat?”

Remus nearly choked on his tea before replying, “Ah I think it’s just a regular wreck. He got the dead goat out right away, they tend to smell.”

“Sensible lad,” you replied with a straight face.

You heard the very lad call for you.

“Excuse me,” you said with a smile.

“Of course,” he replied, smiling back warmly.

You walked back to Sirius’ room and he held out a hand, then pulled you inside and closed the door, promptly spinning you against it and kissing you. “Welcome to my home,” he said with a smile when you were panting after the kiss.

“D'you welcome everyone so thoroughly?” you asked.

“No, just you. And James,” he joked.

“Then I’m honored,” you whispered as he kissed your neck. “But we’re being a bit rude to Remus, aren’t we?”

He leaned back to look at you. “How?”

“Well, I mean isn’t he going to be uncomfortable thinking we’re back here shagging?”

“Nah,” he said before returning to kissing your neck.

You pushed his face away. “He won’t be uncomfortable? Is this usual, then?” you asked with your palm over Sirius’ face.

He gently bit the fleshy part of your palm and said, “He won’t be uncomfortable because he won’t think we’re shagging because he knows how I feel about you.”

“Oh,” you said awkwardly, feeling a bit dim. “How’s that, again?”

“Completely smitten. Utterly enraptured. Absolutely enamored. Shall I go on?”

You felt your cheeks heat and looked down, a bit embarrassed at your outburst. “I guess you aren’t the only one feeling a tad possessive.”

“Good,” he said with a smacking kiss to your nose. “Because ridiculous as it may seem, and as hard of a sell as it will be to your parents, I’m not letting you go. I believe that for whatever reason, we’re supposed to be together.”

“That is terrifying. And impetuous, reckless, madcap, perhaps even foolhardy. People will say that we’re making a mistake and we can’t know how we feel so quickly,” you whispered. “But what’s most terrifying is that I totally agree with you.”

Sirius gifted you with a brilliant smile and kissed you, happily and affectionately; it wasn’t a kiss of passion or desire, though of course you felt both for each other. It was more a kiss of promise; one to say that while you knew that you were probably the only people who will think that this thing between you was real and right, that you would stand by it and fight for it. Neither of you had called ‘it’ love, but deep inside, you both suspected and hoped that love was the logical conclusion to where this was going.

* * *

You visited with Remus for a few more minutes before you and Sirius headed back to your house. It had been a long few days and you were emotionally exhausted from the misunderstanding and reunion.

“Any nibblers before bed?”

“No, I’m still full from dinner,” he said, rubbing his stomach.

You rubbed his tummy, too. “Ready for a rest, then?” you asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

“Guest room or with me?” you asked over your shoulder as you ascended the stairs.

“I wanna sleep with you,” he said in a husky voice.

“Good,” you said. “I want you with me.”

“I’ll even try to keep my hands to myself,” he joked.

“We need to try.”

“I know, love,” he said seriously. “I’m not pushing.

“Hey, I said 'we’ for a reason, Sirius. I’m just as liable to instigate as you, y'know?” you said earnestly as you turned and stood by your bed. “But I think that for us, sex needs to be later, because I never want to have any regrets with you.”

“I understand, love, I really do. I don’t want us to have any regrets, either. It’s scary enough that we feel this bond so quickly. I don’t want to rush anything,” he said, but then got a wicked look on his face. “I want to savor you.”

You plopped down on the bed with a groan and said, “Merlin, that was cruel.”

“Payback for the flash,” Sirius said with a laugh.

“You get no breakfast in bed now!”

“Maybe I’ll cook for you, then.”

“Ohhhh tell me more,” you said, pulling him between your legs and propping your chin on his stomach to look up into his face.

Sirius sighed. “You take my breath away,” he whispered.

“Only if you snore,” you said with a wink, but then stood up and wrapped your arms around Sirius. “I’m so glad you’re here. I hate how we met, but I love that I met you.”


	8. Chapter 8

You slept the best you had since you had arrived in London, Sirius wrapped around you all night long. Turns out your lad was a bit snuggly. You woke up before him and marveled at how handsome he was, like a painting by one of the Old Masters. His features were perfect, except perhaps a slightly crooked nose that looked like it had been broken and not set right away; yet that small imperfection along with the couple days worth of beard darkening his jaw gave him a touch of ruggedness that kept him from being pretty.

But it wasn’t his handsome face that drew you in; there was a quiet strength beneath the laughing Lothario facade that he tried to present to the world. This was a young man who had known heartache and had suffered to follow his beliefs when almost everyone in his family damned him for it.

There was a lot you still needed to learn about Sirius. A lot. But one thing you already knew was that you had slumbered in his arms all night long and he hadn’t even touched you inappropriately in his sleep. Merlin, he cared enough to chase you even when you had been a colossal bitch to him!

Sirius Black was a good man.

It was Saturday and he didn’t have to go into the Ministry, though he was on call pretty much always. Moody was cutting him some slack this weekend; apparently since he went to the trouble to mend the rift in your budding relationship he wanted you to have some time together. Perhaps the curmudgeon was invested?

You reached up and stroked his beard a bit, smiling when he snuggled into the touch like a puppy. Merlin, you had never met a man like him before. You had dated a few blokes from school and travels, even slept with a couple of the more serious boyfriends, but you had never felt such an instant connection. Even though you were with one of them for over a year, you hadn’t felt the depth of emotion for him.

You should probably be worried. After all, there was a lot you didn’t know about him. You had only scratched the surface of his family issues, you had no idea about his plans for the future or whether he wanted a family…but you knew that you wanted to spend all of your time with him and that the thought of more days like the ones you spent without him was more than appalling.

You leaned up and kissed him. You’d never been impulsive a day in your life before you met him, but you seemed to be going on instinct and whim where Sirius was concerned.

His eyes fluttered open and he gave you a brilliant smile. “Good morning, darling,” he said in a morning-gruff voice. “What a lovely wake-up call.”

“Well, I like staring at you while you sleep but I find I prefer you with your eyes open,” you said with a smile.

“Well, while it’s slightly creepy that you watch me sleep, I’m glad you like it when I’m awake. Unless I should keep my eyes open when I kiss you? I dunno if I can. Should we try?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

“No concerns over morning breath?”

“Hmmm beautiful bird wants to kiss me, do I say, ‘nay, madam, let us go and brush our teeth!’ or just kiss my lovely girlfriend good morning?” he whispered, rolling over to lean over you. “I’m fine with it. How about you?”

“Aces,” you said quietly as you pulled him down to kiss you.

He did so gladly until you were both breathless. “Merlin, you’re perfect,” he said against your lips.

“Mmm yes, brag about your exquisite taste in women later, kiss now.”

Sirius chuckled and kissed you again, then said, “All right, my morning wood is about to start making the decisions so we should probably get out of bed.”

You let out a whimper, eyes closed. “Did we have good reasons for waiting?”

Sirius rolled over onto his back next to you. “They seemed like it at the time.”

You opened your eyes and saw the tent Sirius was sporting under the sheet and groaned. “D'you recall what they were?”

He turned to face you, cupping your cheek to look into your eyes. “Not at present, but darling, we will later and I don’t want any doubt with you, ever.”

“I certainly picked the right lap to sit in,” you whispered.

“Glad you think so. Go make me breakfast,” he said with a laugh.

“I thought you were making me breakfast?” you asked indignantly.

“I don’t remember, but I need a cold shower, so dibs on the tub!” he said, scampering from the bed and into the loo with a laugh.

You laughed at his antics and admired his bum as he ran from your bedroom, then got up and threw on a t-shirt and jeans, pushed your hair back from your face with a bandanna headscarf and then headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.

* * *

“Do I smell bacon?” Sirius called when he came downstairs, coming over to wrap himself around your from behind and plopped his chin on your shoulder.

You turned your head and kissed him. “Yes, dear. I’m making you breakfast, as ordered.”

“That worked?” he exclaimed, causing you to giggle. “Why did I waste it on breakfast?”

“Oh, what should you have used it on?”

“Having my wicked way with you?” he asked with his lips just below your ear, brushing against the sensitive skin there.

“Well, instead you can have your wicked way with some pancakes,” you said with a laugh.

“Honestly, if we don’t stop teasing each other I may consider it,” he said with a laugh and a smooch to your cheek. He then pulled his wand out and set the cabinets in motion to set the table with dishes and silverware, getting juice, syrup and butter from the refrigerator and filling the tea kettle.

“Oh, my, look at you with the non-verbal spellwork. Very sexy,” you said in an impressed tone.

“Why thank you, love. I do try to satisfy,” he said in a naughty voice.

“Yes, well I’ll have to let you know about that,” you chirped.

“And hopefully soon.”

You laughed and sent the food onto the waiting platters, then followed them over to the table.

“Thanks for helping, love,” you said to Sirius with a smile.

“Happy to,” he replied, then loaded his plate with delicious pancakes, groaning in pleasure.

You both tucked in for a few minutes, then you asked, “So what shall we do with a whole day of attempted abstinence?”

Sirius barked a happy laugh. “I thought we could just spend time together and get to know each other, but then maybe we could see if my friends are busy?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I have a list of questions for you, my lad,” you warned.

“As do I for you,” he said with a wink. “D'you wanna hang out with m'friends?”

“Sure, yeah, invite them over. It will be fun. We can scare up some pizza or something and hang out here if you’d like,” you offered.

“Smashing,” he said, sounding relieved. “I really want you all to get to know each other.”

“Oh, I expect I didn’t make the best first impression, did I?” you guessed.

He made a bit of a face. “They understand that there was a vast misunderstanding, but they are a bit worried at how…intense? we are about each other, yeah.”

“Oh, dear, now I’m worried.”

“Don’t be, love!” he reassured you, taking your hand in his and kissing the back and squeezing it reassuringly. “They’re gonna see how brilliant you are and they’ll adore you as much as I do, they’re just a bit fretful. James is a complete Mum, he just adopted me and thinks he’s gotta take care of me.”

“Well, that’s kinda sweet, then,” you said, smiling to relieve his obvious worry. “It will be fine. If they love you, I’m sure I’ll love them.”

He sighed, relieved. “Thank you, darling. They’re gonna love you,” he repeated before he pulled you into a kiss, then you tidied up the kitchen. Sirius sent off an owl to his friends to invite them over while you showered and then you cuddled on the sofa and talked for the next few hours.

* * *

You had received acceptances from most everyone whom you had invited, except Remus who was apparently on duty that night. It would have been nice to have him there as you felt you made a better impression on him – Merlin, was that just yesterday? – but you trusted Sirius that his friends weren’t set against you.

After your talk, you understood his family situation and his attachment to James even more. You ached for the little boy who had only wanted to be loved, and you were ready to love the young man who had accepted him despite his sinister family background.

So it was Saturday night and you had a lounge full of young people: some married, some dating, some single and on the prowl. You ate pizza and drank beer and listened to endless stories of Sirius’ mischief making while at Hogwarts.

“Goodness, love, I had no idea you were such a rascal,” you teased him.

Sirius was blushing furiously and trying desperately to change the subject.

“Now, one thing I find hard to believe that my darling lad tried to convince me of was that he was practically a saint when it came to the opposite sex. True or false?”

Lily actually spat her beer out laughing and Sirius covered his face with both hands.

“Oh, dear, have I been misled? Were you a bit of a dog, love?” you asked cheerfully.

Sirius groaned as everyone howled with laughter, James actually falling on the floor.

He had, of course, told you of his illegal animagus status, which led your choice of wording. You looked as if you were going to ask another question and he started kissing you to distract you.

It worked a charm; he kissed you so passionately that when he was done you could have been convinced your Dad was Merlin and your Mum was Morgana.

A while and much embarrassment for Sirius later, Peter was the first to head out, then others followed until you found yourself with only James and Lily.

“So, you two,” Lily said.

“Yeahhh,” Sirius drawled. You were sitting on the sofa together, your legs across his lap.

“Pads, show me where the loo is?” James said quickly.

“Well, that’s not obvious at all,” Sirius muttered.

Once the guys had gone off to do Merlin knew what, Lily smiled at you.

“Ah, so you’re the one who’s gonna put me to the thumb screws!” you joked.

“Doesn’t seem like that’ll be necessary, now does it?” she said with a smile. “Our Padfoot is really quite fond of you. I suppose I must ask for your intentions?”

“We seem to have this weird… affinity? for each other. From the first moment we met, it was this intense…bond, almost. I dunno, I probably sound drunk or dull-witted, but I really can’t explain it,“ you shared. "My intentions, for all that we should have any at this point are to spend as much time with him as possible and see where it goes. My instincts, though, say that he’s mine and I’m his. I don’t begin to understand it myself, though, so I don’t expect you to do.”

Lily nodded slowly as if she was pondering your words. “Y'know, he and James are like brothers, and I love him like family too. So I guess what I’m saying is: if you hurt him, we’ll kill you?” she said with a laugh.

You laughed with her, certain that she was joking, but also certain that should the need arises she would definitely be  the one to put you in a grave. “Men always underestimate women,” you acknowledged. “But honestly, I’m glad that he found such a wonderful family to replace the crap hand he was dealt. He deserved so much better.”

Lily tipped her head to the side, saying, “I doubt he even told you the worst of it.”

“As do I. But there was just such enormous pain in his eyes, he broke my heart and I really want to kill his maternal relative,” you said heatedly, refusing to refer to him as a mother.

Lily seemed to make a decision. “Yes, I approve.”

You were actually surprised. “What may have happened had you not approved, if I may be so bold?”

Lily spoke slowly and chose her words carefully. “Sirius values James’ and my opinions very much.”

“Oh,” you whispered, not really understanding ‘til now how important this was. “Did Sirius know I was interviewing?”

“No! Absolutely not!” she said adamantly. “This was strictly between James and me.”

“Very well,” you said immediately. “I am happy that you approve, actually, because he means so much to me. Now we just need to get him past my Dad.”

Lily chuckled. “Parents. James’ were lovely. We were all welcome there any time. Sirius actually lived with them when he ran away.”

“He told me,” you said softly, recalling the painful tale he had told. “He said he couldn’t take it anymore.”

“His parents were cruel to him, moreso once he was sorted into Gryffindor. You should have seen the skinny, pale boy that would return to school each year,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “It was heartbreaking to see his spirit broken like that, and we weren’t really even friends then.”

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had this idyllic upbringing. My parents showed me the world and Auntie taught me to be a proper Briton. I was really being trained to be anything and live anywhere I want.”

Lily sighed. “No matter whether a parent loves their child as James’ did him or are the worst parents ever as Sirius’ were, these days in England there’s no such thing as idyllic.”

“I want to help change that,” you said sincerely. “And I promise, I absolutely adore Sirius, far more than is appropriate for the amount of time I’ve known him. And I know all I can do is prove it over time, but I hope that eventually we can be friends.”

Lily smiled. “I think we will. We girls need to stick together, what with these ornery lads we’ve chosen.”

“You can say that again,” you agreed. “But they’re awfully handsome lads. So that’s nice.”

“It does make it easier to put up with childish nonsense when they’re easy on the eyes, know what I mean?”

“I do indeed. In fact, if it weren’t for his spectacular bum, I dunno if I could put up with his shenanigans,” you said loudly. “Like eavesdropping.”

“Technically,” Sirius said sheepishly as he came into the room, “it’s only eavesdropping if it’s secretive, and as you knew I was there…”

You reached out your hand to him with a smile, not upset in the least. He took it happily and sat down next to you and pulled you onto his lap. You draped an arm around his shoulders and kissed his temple.

“I suppose we should be getting home,” Lily said, standing and stretching a bit.

“I’m so pleased you came over,” you said, getting to your feet to walk them to the door. “And that you approve.”

“Me, too,” Sirius said, holding your hand as if he couldn’t stand to be near you without touching.

“It was so nice to meet you,” James said, pulling you into a hug. “Take care of my brother.”

“I plan to,” you said sincerely.

Lily gave you a quick hug and said, “We’ll see you soon.”

After they left and the door was closed, Sirius groaned and said, “S'pose we should clean up.”

You yawned. “Too tired. Must sleep. We can clean up in the morning.”

“You talked me into it,” he said, taking your hand and leading you up the steps.

You went up, washed your face and brushed your teeth together then undressed and got into bed together. Sirius pulled you close and wrapped his arm around you in the big spoon.

“G'night, love. Thank you for getting to know my friends a bit. Means a lot to me.”

You looked over your shoulder and said, “Of course, Sirius. You mean so much to me, I want your friends to like me. I know they mean the world to you, I wouldn’t want you to have to choose.” Then you chuckled. “Especially since I’m not sure you’d pick me.”

“This scares me all to hell,” he kissed you, gently, like a promise, and continued, “but, I think I’d choose you, actually.”

“Oh, love,” you said, rolling over to face him, putting a hand on his cheek gently and kissing him. “I hope we never need to make such a decision, but I already know I’d choose you.”

He pulled you close and you snuggled, kissing every so often until you fell asleep together in each other’s arms, at peace for this snippet of time together.


	9. Chapter 9

“WHAT IN MERLIN’S SAGGY DRAWERS IS GOING ON HERE?”

Sirius quite literally fell out of bed and onto his arse, then hopped to his feet, pulled his wand and stood in front of of you in a protective stance. “You will not harm her!”

“No, Sirius,” you said, wrapping your arms around him from behind and lowering his wand arm. “It’s fine, love.”

“I dunno if it’s fine. I come home and there’s a strange man in bed with my daughter…” the man grumbled.

“Hi, Daddy, hi Mum!” you said happily, squeezing past Sirius to go and hug your parents. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon!”

“We decided to wrap up early,” your Mum said, pulling you close. “Now, who is this young man who was willing to die for you?”

You cleared your throat. That had been so heroic that if your parents hadn’t been there you would probably be in bed with him with an entirely different mindset.

“Mum, Dad, this is Sirius Black. He’s a friend of Rollie’s.”

Sirius had snapped out of his trance at your parents arriving early and finding the two of you together as you were and came forward to offer his hand. “Pleasure to meet you both,” he said, shaking hands with each in turn.

“How do you know Rollie?” your Mum asked, seeing how your Dad was still staring at Sirius in an effort to break his will and make him run away crying.

“That’s a bit of a long story,” you supplied. “Why don’t we get dressed and we’ll come down and tell you everything.”

“Will you tell me why he was in bed with you?” your Dad asked grumpily.

“Not with that attitude,” you snarked back.

“She gets that from you,” he muttered at your Mother as she pulled him down the hall.

“You married me, so apparently you liked it at one point,” she said lightly.

Sirius had maintained a cool front while your parents were there, but as soon as they left he collapsed on to the bed. “Bloody bloody bloody fucking hell!” he exclaimed. “Your Dad caught us in bed!”

“Yeah, but we weren’t en flagrante, we were sleeping!” you reasoned.

“I’m in my pants and you’re wearing a t-shirt and knickers! He may have noticed!” he groaned. “Merlin’s bollocks, I wanted to make a good impression, now they’re gonna hate me!”

“They aren’t going to hate you. Just my Dad,” you said with a giggle.

“Lovely, so happy that you can make light of this,” he said sarcastically.

“Hey,” you said, cuddling up next to him where he was sprawled on your bed in abject anguish, “you’re mine. They might put up a bit of a row, but the absolute bottom line is I’m keeping you.”

“Spoilt Daddy’s girl?” he asked shrewdly.

“How dare you?” you said with a wink. “But really, Sirius, I promise, he’ll get past it when he gets to know you.”

“Hope you’re right.”

“I am, you’ll see. Let’s get dressed,” you said with a kiss.

* * *

“Oh, look at you two wearing clothes,” your Dad said sarcastically when you arrived downstairs.

“Sir, we were just sleeping. It was entirely innocent,” Sirius quickly explained. “I have the utmost respect for your daughter and would never do anything to hurt her.”

“That so?” your Dad asked.

“Dad,” you said in a warning tone. “It was innocent. If it hadn’t been, though, since I’m an adult, it would merely have been a bit awkward, right?”

Your Dad gave you a dirty look. “I do not want to walk in on anything awkward, missy.”

“Fine, if I’m feeling awkward, we’ll go to Sirius’ apartment. Easy peasy,” you said combatively.

“Hey hey hey,” Sirius said, hands up in a placating fashion. “No need to get all in a kerfuffle.”

“Don’t bother, Mr. Black. Those two enjoy their bickering. Tell me about yourself. Are you one of the infamous blood purist Blacks?” she asked calmly.

“Mum!” you scolded, embarrassed.

Sirius looked a little ill. “I’m afraid so, though I haven’t been in contact with any of my family for a few years now,” he answered honestly, looking down. “I understand if you want me to leave your daughter alone.”

“Pish posh,” she said, fluttering her hand. “She knows her own mind. I was just curious how they let one get away “

Sirius grinned. “I assure you, I am considered a great failure amongst my clan. I’ve been informed that my mother burned me from the family tree.”

“Oh,” you said quietly, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze, not relinquishing your hold. “That’s terrible, Sirius.”

“Thanks, love,” he whispered with a half-smile.

“Tell us about Rollie,” your Dad asked.

You and Sirius took turns filling them in, adding details here and there, holding hands all the while.

“And you’ve just met a few days ago, you say?” your father asked skeptically. “Awfully chummy.”

“Will you be staying for breakfast, Sirius?” your Mum asked as she got to her feet, eyeing your father until he dropped the subject.

“I’d love to, thank you.”

“And perhaps you’d like to explain the beer bottles everywhere?” your Dad said.

“Sirius wanted me to meet his friends since we’re so chummy,” you said pertly. “They came round last night and we had an orgy.”

“Hey!” Sirius hissed, elbowing you. “Do you want them to hate me?”

You sighed. “Sorry, Dad. We had pizza and played music and talked. They’re very close to him since he hasn’t any family and they wanted to get to know me.”

Your Dad looked at Sirius and then you, as if marveling that his smart-mouthed daughter cared enough about the young man not to be smart-mouthed. “I see,” he said, a bit more calm than before. “Coffee or tea, Sirius?”

Sirius’ eyes widened a bit and he said, “I’d love a coffee, thanks.”

* * *

Somehow Sirius had won your Dad over and you were all at the table eating breakfast and discussing everything you knew about Rollie.

“So you both had the same idea to search pubs where he went missing?” your Dad asked. “And that’s how you met?”

“Yes, sir,” Sirius said. “Moody told me to back off but I couldn’t. Rollie’s my friend.”

“Thank you,” your Mum said softly. “We love that boy so much. We must find him – or…or at least find out what happened to him.”

“I still believe we can find him, ma'am. Don’t lose hope,” Sirius said gently.

“I shall do my best,” she replied, eyes welling with unshed tears. “We’re going to see your Auntie today, dear. Will you join us?”

“No, Sirius and I have plans,” you said quickly so that Sirius wouldn’t accept.

“Yes,” he said. “Plans.”

“And he works long hours so I won’t get to see him much during the week,” you said sadly.

He took your hand and kissed it. “Sorry, love,” he whispered.

“Don’t be silly, your work is important.”

Your parents shared a look. “Well,then, we’ll see you for dinner?” your Mum asked.

“Sounds great,” Sirius replied warmly.

“Let’s go clean up, yeah,” you said, pulling him along with you.

“Yeah,” he said amiably, feeling much better about meeting your parents.

* * *

You spent the day knocking about town. You’d said you had plans but really, you just wanted the day with him. Besides, your Auntie had liked Sirius and if the two of you weren’t there your parents could interrogate her and come to the same conclusion they already had: he was a fine young man who had risen above his upbringing.

That had been on the agenda as well; he took you to see his childhood house. He was very clear about it not being a home.

“This is where I lived until James’ parents took me in,” he said quietly, as if he was afraid someone would hear and drag him back in there.

“Hey,” you said quietly, putting a hand on his cheek so he’d look at you.

“I’m fine,” he whispered.

“You don’t have to be for my sake, love. You’ve been so strong for me; let me be here for you, too.”

He looked into your eyes for a moment and then nodded. “My parents were disappointed in me for as long as I could remember. There was always a cousin or other relative who was a ‘Better Black.’ Eventually it became my little brother, Regulus.

"We were close, when we were young. Before I went to Hogwarts. He was two years behind me but by the time I returned from my first year, they had turned him against me. He hated me as much as my parents.

"He got to Hogwarts and I prayed that whatever closeness we’d had would have him sorted into Gryffindor with me. I almost sneaked into Dumbles’ office to try and have a talk with the Sorting Hat, but Remus stopped me. He said that not only was it stupid and reckless, but it wouldn’t work because it only takes the wishes of the person wearing it into consideration. I must admit that the latter mattered more than the stupid and reckless part,” he said with a smile.

You smiled back and gave him a kiss, but remained quiet. “He was sorted into Slytherin, of course. My parents turned him into the little fanatic they failed to make me.

"And I love my brother. I would like nothing more than to drag him away from here. But the sickest fucking part of all of this shit is that I still love my parents and would love to have them want me as a son. How pathetic is that?”

There were tears in his voice, but you couldn’t see his eyes as they were still trained on the townhouse where he grew up.

“You’re not pathetic at all,” you said quietly. “I think that it’s natural to want your family to love you, because love is supposed to be the natural state of a family.” You laughed bitterly. “And I just blithely accept my parents’ love like I’m doing them a favor.”

“For a long time I thought there was something wrong with me, that my parents should love me, so it had to be my fault, right? If I was a good boy why wouldn’t my…my mum love me?”

You pulled Sirius close and said, “You are amazing and wonderful and I am at least half in love with you already. The fault clearly belongs with your parents. Anyone who couldn’t love someone as fantastic as you is clearly a few knuts short of a sickle.”

“You’re – you’re half in love with me?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

You kissed him gently. “At least.”

Sirius crushed you against his chest. “I never thought I’d find anyone like you, and certainly not someone like you that would want me,” he whispered into your hair.

“Merlin, if we’re gonna talk about *want* then that’s a much higher fraction,” you said with a giggle.

Sirius groaned a laugh. “Behave, darling, or we’ll get arrested for public indecency.”

You stood still, just holding each other for a little while longer. When you stepped apart, you said, “I know nothing can replace them, but you have so many people who love you. Lily and James are totally ready to murder me and hide my body if I hurt you. My Mum already likes you and somehow you impressed my Dad. And of course, I’m ridiculously head over heels for you. So maybe that can…help?”

Sirius smiled and cradled your face in his hands, then leaned in to kiss you. “You have no idea how much that helps, darling. And I’m at least half in love with you, too. Possibly three fourths of the way,” he said with a wink.

“Merlin, always a competition with you,” you said with a wink, then sobered. “D'you wanna go knock?”

He looked over at the house and shook his head. “I think I miss something I never had more than something I lost. If that makes sense.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I’ll find what I’m looking for there,” he said, his voice stronger. “Let’s go. I wanna spend time with my girl.”

“As much as we can,” you said with a smile.

You both knew that the fate of the world was in the balance and you had to grow up and be soldiers to help save it, but that afternoon was like a moment out of time where you simply got to hold hands and be together, a normal couple in the first stages of falling in love.

* * *

That evening you returned to your home and Sirius stayed for dinner, then left to return to his own apartment.

You sat on your bed as he packed his bag to go home, irrationally sad.

“I want you to stay,” you pouted.

“I know, love, and I want to be here with you. But, I won’t tweak your father’s nose like that,” he answered gently yet firmly.

“Merlin, you really do want them to like you, eh?”

Sirius sat down next to you and took a deep breath, and then another. “Love,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper, “if I have my way, if things go as I hope they will – they could be my family someday. I don’t want any hard feelings when that comes to pass.”

You grinned. “You wanna marry me. I am irresistible, I completely understand,” you joked.

He shook his head at your tomfoolery. “I’m not joking, love. I’ve never felt this strongly for anyone but James. And since I’m not fantasizing about shagging the bejeezus out of him, you’re in a class all your own.”

“You are, as well,” you answered seriously. “And I loved waking up in your arms.”

“Perhaps missing each other at night will motivate us to do our best work so we can be together forever,” he said, kissing you gently.

“If that’s my prize then I shall work night and day,” you whispered. “I can’t wait to find Rollie so he can see what we’ve found together.”

“Absolutely, love.”


	10. Chapter 10

Your spell actually brought the first genuine equalizer into the Order’s arsenal; now when you took prisoners, you would let them ‘escape’ after surreptitiously taking a sample of their hair or something that you could use to locate them. This had led to finding three dens of Death Eaters in two weeks. 

A few of the true believers either refused to speak at all or committed suicide. You found that they had taken another play from Hitler’s book of hatred and had lethal spells or potions at the ready in case of capture. You had to find a way to capture them and incapacitate them so that they couldn’t get the spell off or drink the potion so that they could be questioned and prosecuted.

You were going out and patrolling with Sirius almost nightly; you were almost close enough to work as a unit, always aware of the surroundings and able to communicate wordlessly at times. Even Moody was impressed when he had taken a polyjuice potion and watched the two of you work together.

* * *

 

You were leaving a Muggle pub not far from your home and heading to check in for the evening. After every shift you would check in at a secure location to offer any information you had gathered or turn in prisoners for questioning.

Peter was your tail tonight. You always had an unseen backup whose only job was to follow you and make certain you weren’t being followed and alert you in the event you were in danger. They were taking their agents’ safety far more seriously since Rollie’s disappearance.

You were walking down the street with your arms around each other, the picture of a tipsy Muggle couple entirely wrapped up in each other and unaware of their surroundings. You were strolling along chatting quietly, being sure to stagger and giggle a bit here and there.

You were doing an expert job of painting a target on your backs to draw the attention of Death Eaters looking to make their bones by killing some distracted Muggles.

Unbeknownst to either of you, however, your success had been noted by your enemies as well as your superiors and you had very personal targets painted on your backs.

The battle was over almost as soon as it had begun. Apparently Sirius’ reputation preceded him and Voldemort’s henchmen had incapacitated and then rendered Sirius unconscious before turning their firepower on you and stunning you, though you remained conscious.

There were five of them and even though you were skilled with wandless and non-verbal magic, they knew how to neutralize you immediately.

“One more move and he’s done for,” one of them growled as he pointed his wand at Sirius.

“No!” you protested, hands up and empty. “Please, he’s unconscious, he can’t hurt you!”

“Finish him off,” the apparent leader said.

“Wait!! He’s out cold, he can’t follow. But if you don’t hurt him I will go with you, I won’t put up a fight.“ Thinking quickly, you said, "I bet you’d like to know where the headquarters are, who all are in the group, who runs it?”

They hesitated, all of the Death Eaters looking to the leader for guidance. “We let him live and you tell?”

“Everything I know,” you agreed. It was one helluva dangerous bluff, but you couldn’t watch them kill Sirius when he was unconscious. He needed a chance to fight, he was important to both the Order and to finding Rollie.

You needed him alive to find you. And if he couldn’t find you in time, well, you just needed him alive.

Apparently your cooperation wasn’t enough because you felt a thump to the back of your head and the world went black. The last thing you saw was Sirius lying in a puddle, blood running from a cut on his temple where he had struck something when he fell.

* * *

 

Sirius slowly became aware that he was on the ground, the ground was wet, his head hurt and someone was shaking his shoulder which was in turn making his head hurt worse.

“Sirius!” Peter hissed, shaking him awake.

“Fuckin’ hell, stop that!” Sirius groused.

“Finally,” Pete said in relief. “I thought maybe you weren’t gonna wake up this time.”

“Shit!” he exclaimed, sitting up too fast and then fighting off the urge to puke. Then he remembered what happened in a rush and called your name, looking around frantically.

“She’s gone,” Peter answered quietly.

“What?” he asked in confusion, trying to stand. “Where did she go?”

“They took her, mate!”

“What?” Sirius screamed. “Why didn’t you stop them?”

“I was in my rat form, they were going to finish you and she said she’d go quietly and tell them whatever they wanted to know. She – she said something like how she thought they’d like to know where Headquarters are and who’s in the Order and she’d tell everything she knew if they’d leave you.”

“Fuck, Wormy!” Sirius said, shaking Peter by the shoulders til his head flopped a bit. “She doesn’t know any of that!”

“Breakin’ my neck won’t help!” he whined.

“They – they’ll torture her,” Sirius whispered, letting go of Peter. “I have to find her.”

"Mate, you need to go to St. Mungo’s.”

“No, get James and Remus and anyone else who’s available quick. Tell them to meet me at her parents’ house. I’m going there now.”

“Sirius they’ll kill you!”

“Not until we get her back. If we don’t, I don’t fucking care anyway,” he snarled. “Go!”

* * *

 

You woke up on the floor with your head pounding and a metallic taste in your mouth. What the bloody hell…oh, wait! You lurched to your feet, trying to make out anything in the dark, shuffling your feet so as not to trip over an obstacle hidden in the inky blackness.

“Shit,” a voice in the dark hissed as your foot met with resistance.

“Hello?” you said, shamed at the tremulous note in your voice. “Who’s there?”

A voice whispered your name.

“Rollie?” you asked, “is that you?”

Suddenly you were engulfed by a skinny, smelly frame and you had never been so happy in your life. “What are you doing here, you bleedin’ idiot?” he whispered, tears in his voice.

“Here to rescue you, obviously,” you whispered back with a chuckle, unable to let go of him.

“Bang-up job,” he said quietly, a bit of a chuckle reassuring you.

“It’s a work in progress,” you said. “Is someone listening?” You assumed they were since he had been careful to whisper.

“Yes. And we’re not the only ones here.”

“Don’t worry, dearest, Sirius will find us.”

He scoffed. “He hasn’t so far, I’d begun to wonder if anyone was even looking.”

“Shame on you!” you scolded. “How could you think I wouldn’t come for you? Sirius has been looking for you ceaselessly, too.”

He inhaled sharply in what sounded a bit like a sob. “I’m sorry. It’s just –”

You hugged him closer. “No worries, love. I’m here and soon Sirius will be.”

“Come and sit,” he whispered. “Doubtless they’ll be here to question you soon.”

“And by question…?”

“Let’s hope Sirius gets here soon,” he said darkly.

“Smashing,” you sighed. “Not that I’m not thrilled but…”

“Why haven’t they killed me?”

“Yeah.”

“The sick fuckers torture me and then heal me,” he sobbed. “They know Mum has money so they plan to ransom me, but they know I’m Order so they think I know things.”

“Shhh,” you soothed. “Sirius will be here.”

“They’ve been kidnapping rich witches and wizards and if they don’t know anything, they ransom them back to their families. If they’re Ministry employees or Order members, they torture and questions us and then try to turn us. I don’t know who any of them are, they wear masks.” He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Wait…how d'you –” he stopped speaking when he heard footsteps in the hallway.

A key turned in the lock and Lumos was cast, blinding you so that you couldn’t see Rollie or even how many others were in the dank room.

“Would Sirius Black’s mystery lady please come forward?” an arrogant voice intoned.

You stiffened your spine and got to your feet, squinting your eyes against the light as you moved toward it. When you reached the doorway, a hand grabbed your arm roughly, causing you to hiss in pain. You hoped Rollie wouldn’t react; that would give them a clue to your identity.

You were alternately shoved, pulled or groped along the corridor and then pushed into a chair and bound to it.

The same arrogant, aristocratic voice spoke. “It would seem that my underlings are unable to follow even the simplest of instructions. Sirius Black,” he spat with distaste, “would have been a much more valuable prize than whatever nameless little slut he’s using at present, but perhaps you have…uses.”

Your skin crawled at his meaning. “Yeah, I would imagine a namby-pamby arse licker like you would have to resort to rape to get laid.”

“Charming,” he said. “Now I see why you’re with Black. He’s always preferred his slags rough around the edges; looks like you’re approximately a half-step above an actual whore.”

You chuckled. “Oooh. Name-calling. I see where you blokes get your nasty reputation.”

“I assure you, you’ll have a much clearer picture before long,” he said. “But to be fair, you did start the name-calling.”

“You’re right. But it was so mild that I really thought that you’d be wizard enough to ignore mere words. Apparently I’m rubber and you’re glue.” You smiled and then said, “You disease-ridden running-sore of a twat.”

“You’ve a filthy little mouth,” he said angrily.

_Good,_ you thought. _An angry man doesn’t ask wise questions._

You gasped as your cheek exploded with pain as the angry man backhanded you. Then you decided to see how much angrier you could make him.

“Merlin, my hundred and twelve year old Granny hits harder than that!” you sneered. “I heard a rumour that when you become a Death Eater, not only do you get a tattoo but Old Voldy pulls your robes up and buggers you silly. True?”

Instead of another blow, however, you were given a chuckle. “An admirable try. I’d guess that your _granny_  was a useless squib, or possibly a hedge whore who married a Mudblood, and you should have been drowned at birth rather than fill the world with more filthy mongrels like yourself.”

“Not bad. You need to expand your range of insults for females, though. You keep focusing on slags and whores. Doesn’t bother me a bit.”

“Thank you for your advice. I will most certainly work on that after I kill you,” he said through obviously gritted teeth.

“Maybe I’ll kill you,” you said with a wink.

“You are a delight!” he said with a laugh. “I don’t suppose you’re a pure-blood?”

“Merlin, Morgana and Godric, you are an awful recruiter!”

“Can I be honest with you?” he said conspiratorially.

“Why not?” you said sarcastically.

“You’re bait,” he said with glee. “We know who you are and that you’re the reason that there have been so many of our bases found of late. We’re using you to lure your compatriots here. And then when we get our hands on that blood traitor Black, we’ll make you watch each other suffer until you both beg for death.”

“Not gonna ransom us, huh? However will you pay the bills on your evil lairs? Hovels cost sickels,” you answered, cool as a cucumber on the outside but absolutely terrified for Sirius. You’d thought that you presented a problem for them because though you walked and talked like a Brit, no one had a clue who you were. That worked to your advantage for the time being. As long as you refused to talk, they couldn’t use you or Rollie against each other, and perhaps Sirius would find you before they tortured you too much.

But they knew who you were. How did they know?

“His family don’t want him. They’re ashamed of him and told us to do with him what we will if he’s captured. He’s only worth the information we can drag out of him with every torture spell and device we can think of.”

“I see,” you answered, mind working furiously. “So your little spy has given you all of this information and you think that we didn’t know?”

He laughed outright at that. “Oh, darling, I promise there won’t be a secret in your entire life that I won’t know,” he said, waving his wand lazily to deliver a few stinging hexes, smiling wider when you hissed in surprise. “I find that when delivering pain, it’s best to start slowly. If one starts too strongly, then the subject becomes inured to the sensations too quickly; if you build gradually it makes it so much more gratifying when they break.”

“Merlin,” you jeered, “I thought all your yammering was part of the torture. Just so you know, if this is how you hold a conversation at a dinner party, that may be why you haven’t gotten any invitations of late.”

“You are a delight!” he said as he pulled up a chair and straddled it. “Truly, I haven’t had this much fun with a prisoner in ages. Most of them are sniveling cowards. Not you, though.” He actually sounded admiring.

You shrugged as much as your bonds would allow. “What can I say? I receive dinner invitations,” you poked at him. “Maybe we should discuss your personality deficits and see if we can’t find you a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend, however you swing. Makes me no never mind.”

“Kind as your offer may be, I think I do well enough on my own.”

“Really? Because it seems to me you have a lot of anger inside you. Have you ever read any of Freud’s studies? How is your relationship with your mother?”

“You can’t see my face, but I’m smiling. You are a very beautiful and charming lady. In other circumstances we could be very close indeed,” he said lewdly.

“Oh, you mean circumstances where you aren’t a racist, murdering piece of troll dung?” you simpered. “And by the way, if you’re so proud of your work and so confident that you’ve laid an irresistible and inescapable trap, why do you hide your face? Are you sure that this evening will go as you planned?”

He lazily waved his wand again and sent a Stinging jinx, a Conjunctivitis curse and then another Stinging jinx. “I think things are shaping up nicely.”


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius was frantically pacing; he was actually as nervous as your parents. Remus was trying to calm him down but he was almost frenzied. If anything happened to you because he hadn’t been able to protect you, he didn’t know what he would do.

On top of it all, he knew where you were and couldn’t go! Moody was insistent that you not leave until the plan was in place. He’d said they couldn’t ignore the possibility that this was a trap and you were bait.

But Sirius didn’t  _care_  if it was a trap. If you were the bait he’d gladly stick his head into a dragon’s mouth to save you. You were the love of his –

Whoa. Sirius loved you. “I love her,” he whispered aloud, the revelation stunning him utterly.

Remus threw his arm around Sirius’ shoulders. “Course you do, mate. And we’re gonna get her back.”

He’d performed the spell three times to make sure they hadn’t moved you. It was almost daybreak when the plan was coordinated and all hands were on deck. Your parents were going along.

“All due respect,” Moody began roughly, “you’re her parents and we understand that you want to go, but you’re an unknown and I need my troops to work together.”

“You can kiss my arse if you think –” your father began, until your mother placed a hand on his arm to calm him.

“If we’re an unknown to you, then so shall we be to the ones we will fight. We know other spells that you could not possibly combat, and so neither can our opponents,” she said reasonably. “But mostly, that is my child and you will not keep me from her.”

Moody considered your mother for a moment and then nodded. “I see where she gets her sand. We all go.”

* * *

You understood the hopelessness that Rollie described. Your tormentor had healed you several times, only to hurt you again and again.

“If you do not cooperate, we will have to branch out and become more…creative…in our questioning. I assure you, I will not be the one to pursue that line of persuasion,” he said as if the tacitly implied sexual assault threats we’re beneath him to perform if not to allow. “We have a fellow who is as large as he is cruel. I assure you, it will not be a pleasant experience. Why do you not simply do yourself a favor and talk to me?”

You panted a bit, lungs re-acclimating themselves to air after he had cast Aguamenti into your face intermittently for over an hour. It had felt like you were drowning and you didn’t think you’d ever be able to take a bath again as long as you lived.

“The funny part,” you said after a coughing fit, “is that I really don’t know anything that you probably don’t already know.”

“I fail to see the humor,” he said coldly.

“How about this: you think you’ll get Black to come and rescue me and we’re just partners! He definitely won’t make some emotional, stupid mistakes because you have his girlfriend or some such. We’ve only known each other for about a month.” You coughed a bit more, exhausted and hoping you were convincing. “I’m of no particular use to the Order since I taught them that spell. They probably won’t even come after me. Black can have a new partner and things will go on as they always have.”

He was silent for a moment. “I can’t decide if you’re bluffing. What is it you think this will accomplish?”

You had reached the point of exhaustion. “Nothing, really. You’re going to keep torturing me because you’re a sadistic prick. I’m going to keep not telling you anything because I don’t know anything. The Order is going to keep doing nothing because that’s what I’m worth to them.”

* * *

Sirius’ heart broke to hear you say that. Did you really believe it?

He was presently reliving his Hogwarts days with James. They were both hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, skulking down the corridor where you were being held.

At your words, James had squeezed Sirius’ shoulder, a double reminder that he wasn’t alone and not to go off half-cocked as he was wont to do. Sirius took a deep breath and nodded a bit, letting James know that he was calm.

“Of course I can see why a miserable, traitorous whore such as yourself would believe that. After all, Black has had more than his share of slags throwing themselves at him,” your tormentor said. “However, if you had one such valuable spell in your vacuous brain, perhaps there’s something else of value in there. In any case, I’ve not put in nearly the time to decide either way.”

Sirius gritted his teeth and looked at his watch. With no knowledge of the layout and no desire on his or your parents’ parts to delay the incursion to do reconnaissance, they were going in blind and merely attempting to coordinate their attacks by time.

Two minutes to go.

Sirius jumped when he heard the crack of a hand against skin followed by your cry of pain. James knew that there was no more waiting at that point. He held his finger in front of Sirius’ face and counted down from three before they burst into the room and threw off the cloak, James and Sirius simultaneously casting a stunning and disarming spell.

Your tormenter dropped like a stone and James kept his wand on him while Sirius made sure that he was the only Death Eater in the room. He nodded to James who bound him and removed his mask.

Sirius hurried over to you. Your head was hanging down and he could only assume that the blow he’d heard had knocked you unconscious. He flicked his wand and your bonds came undone; you fell forward and into Sirius’ arms as he sat down on the floor, tears streaking down his cheeks.

“Love, please wake up,” he whispered brokenly.

James stood in the doorway, not knowing whether to stay there and guard the two of you or to go and help. Before he could decide, Remus came backing into view with Lily, both of them firing spells ahead of them. James looked the other way and stepped out into the hallway, pressing his back to the wall across from the door where you lay unconscious so that he could fire spells into the fray and keep an eye on things the direction from which Sirius and he had come.

Kingsley and your parents came around the corner from that way, in a hurry but not from pursuers but rather to find you. James nodded into the room where you were with Sirius and they went in, Kingsley staying out to help with the battle.

* * *

You awoke slowly, becoming aware of your surroundings bit by bit; a hushed voice, antiseptic smell mingled with a floral scent, the sound of light snoring and a warm hand holding yours.

You opened your eyes gradually; you had a headache and if there was bright light, you didn’t want to be blinded. There was only a dim glow from wall sconces so you opened your eyes. You were facing a window and saw that it was dark. How long had you been asleep?

You turned your head and smiled at the sight of Sirius’ black curls next to you on your bed. It was his hand holding yours loosely while he slept with his head on your bed.

“He’s barely left your side to go to the loo,” your Father said quietly, drawing your eyes to him. He was sitting on a small sofa with your Mum asleep, head pillowed on his lap. “Good lad.”

“He is,” you whispered. “I adore him, Dad.”

He nodded. “You made a good choice, love.”

“Did you find Rollie? Is he alright?” you asked, suddenly overwhelmed with the memories of your captivity.

“Yes, love,” he said soothingly. “Your Auntie’s with him.”

“Merlin,” you sighed. “It’s over.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “That part is.”

Your Mum stirred and then surged upright when she saw you awake. “Oh, my darling!” she exclaimed, rushing over to the side Sirius wasn’t blocking and hugging you.

Sirius popped up at the disturbance, grinning that you were awake. After letting your Mum fuss over you for a few more minutes, your Dad pulled her from the room, ostensibly to get tea but really to give you some time alone with Sirius.

As soon as your parents left the room, you opened your arms to Sirius and he crawled into bed with you. You just held each other, touching each other as if to make sure you were really together again.

“Love, I am so sorry,” Sirius whispered.

“Sirius, you did nothing wrong, darling!” you assured him. You hugged him tighter. “I knew you would come for me.”

“But I heard you…” he rasped, trying not to cry.

“What, my love?” you said, stroking his cheek.

“You said that you were worth nothing to the Order and that you didn’t think anyone was coming for you,” he choked out. “And if I thought you really believed that…”

You leaned back and looked him in the eye.“Sirius, I never had a moment of doubt; I knew you would rescue me.”

“When Peter told me that you had been taken and that you volunteered and saved my life – love, I have never been so scared in my life. Promise me you’ll never do anything so reckless again.”

“Sirius, I would do it a million times over to see you safe. I’d die happily if it meant your safety.”

“Darling, I don’t want safety without you,” he said softly. “I love you; you are my happiness.”

“Sirius, I love you, too. All I could think of when he was hurting me was how I would never get to tell you that you’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever met and I love you so, so much.”

“You…you love me? I love you,” he said, pulling you into his arms again. “Never leave me again. Promise me.”

“Well, we never really talked about what came after. I had always planned to return to Uganda with my parents.”

Sirius was taken aback. “I..I had hoped that you would stay here and see whether what we have is real?”

“It was all that gave me the courage to defy him. I was so lippy! I think Moody would have been proud of the insults I tossed around,” you said with a chuckle. “I need you to be honest with me, Sirius. That Death Eater…he said some really demoralizing things about you and your Lothario ways. Please don’t say you love me unless you’re sure.”

“I have never been more sure of anything. Honestly, if it wouldn’t be completely ridiculous I’d ask you to run away and marry me.”

“Hmm that is ridiculous. Why must we run away?” you said logically.

Sirius smiled. “You’d say yes?”

“Being in the clutches of a psychotic magical Nazi does rather have a way of making one wish to seize the day if one escapes. Yes, Sirius, I would say yes. I love you, darling. I’m as sure as I could be.”

“Then I suppose I should go jewelry shopping,” he said with a smile.

“Feh. I don’t need a piece of jewelry to know you’re mine. I honestly don’t need a piece of paper but Mum and Dad will want that,” you said matter-of-factly.

“Then know this, my love, I will always love you and never leave you. You’ve given me hope and love and I’m never letting you go, ever.”

“That’s all I need, love. You have my heart.”

“You have mine.”

“Then when we get discharged and finish being interrogated by Moody, can you take a vacation?”

“I can ask. Why?”

“I just want some time with the man I love. Some unclothed time with lots and lots of sex,” you said, wiggling your eyebrows.

Sirius got a look of utter surprise and then threw back his head and barked his wonderful laugh. “You are something else, darling.” He kissed you gently, smiling the whole while. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life finding out what that is!”

“Hey!” you exclaimed with mock anger. “I love you, Black.”

“I love you, too, Future Black.”

There was a tap on your door and your parents reappeared along with your Auntie pushing Rollie in a wheelchair.

“Rollie!” you exclaimed happily. “Merlin, we were frantic about you. Don’t you ever worry me like that again, young man!”

“Young man, pshaw! I’m three months older than you, child.”

“Well, not in maturity levels,” you said.

“Must we bicker?” your Aunt asked, though she was well-used to your nonsense.

Sirius walked over and shook Rollie’s hand. “Happy to see you feeling better,  Rollie. Doctor says you’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

“Soon enough to keep an eye on my cousin,” he said with faux-ferocity.

“Oh I see, I rescued your sorry bum from the clutches of evil and you can’t even give me your cousin?” Sirius joked.

“Hey! I am no prize!” you exclaimed indignantly.

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows. “You said it, love, not I.”

Everyone burst into laughter, including you, and then you pulled him into a kiss.

Your family watched you hold on to your love, knowing that this was the man who was your equal and perfect mate. No relationship was ever easy, but the two of you had already survived more hardship than most couples faced in a lifetime.

You would face whatever life threw at you, together.


End file.
